New Jersey’s punk-edged rock ‘n’ rollers Bobby Mahoney have released their first fresh music in over a year in the shape of a new single.
Smoke And Drive is the first offering from the high-energy Asbury Park outfit since last year’s excellent album debut Another Deadbeat Summer.
That record, infused with the spirit of The Gaslight Anthem as much as local hero Bruce Springsteen, showed that playing the long game worked for guitar-slinging frontman Bobby Mahoney, from whom the band take their name.
He’d been writing songs for a decade, but waited until he’d assembled the right band around him to unleash them on Stevie Van Zandt’s Wicked Cool Records label.
Now they’re back with a new tune, backed with a fan favourite, their cover of Social Distortion’s Machine Gun Blues, on the B-side, after it finally found its way into the studio.
“Smoke And Drive was the title of a demo recording that (producer/songwriter) Matty Carlock sent me last year,” says Mahoney. “It was drums and guitars, and he had me write a melody and lyrics to the track.
“The song just screamed nostalgia to me – driving around with friends in high school or college on highways and single-lane back roads.
“We had a great time ironing the song and production out with Matty and with Geoff Sanoff in NYC. Mark Masefield (Dave Hause, Will Hoge, Outside The Box) plays keys on the track and adds a beautiful dimension. We hope it reminds you of that time when…”
“We love Social Distortion and have had fun covering Machine Gun Blues live for a few years now. It felt like the right time to ‘pull the trigger’ on it. Shout out to Social D!”
The recordings feature the band’s core line-up – James McIntosh (drums), Andrew Saul (guitars, backing vocals), Jon Chang-Soon (bass, backing vocals), plus Masefield on keys and Carlock and Sanoff contributing backing vocals.
Bobby Mahoney have shared a stage with Frank Turner, Against Me!, Steve Earle, and Dave Hause, opened for Bon Jovi, and jammed with Springsteen.
If you like The Gaslight Anthem, The Menzingers, The Bouncing Souls, etc I’d recommend you give him/them a listen. You can stream Smoke And Drive by Bobby Mahoney here.
