Guitar Player Magazine

December, 2004

Eric Ambel:Knucklehead

By ANDY ELLIS
Known for providing edgy lead guitar for Joan Jett¹s Blackhearts andSteve Earle¹s Dukes,
Eric "Roscoe" Ambel is also an acclaimed producer. For this collection of swampy, gritty rockers,
he dips deep into his library of orphaned tracks recorded between 1990 and 2004. His two
previous solo discs epitomize rowdy guitar tone, and the 15 songs on Knucklehead uphold
this tradition. Offering a woozy mix of NYC garage rock, early Neil Young, and Sticky
Fingers-era Stones, the songs range from 8-track cassette demos to studio tracks cut with
his pals from the Bottle Rockets, Martin¹s Folly, the Del-Lords, the Yayhoos, andRoscoe's Gang.
As a bonus, the liner notes include intriguing details about the personnel, gear, and instruments.
Next time you feel the urge to loosen a few screws, crank up Knucklehead. Lakeside Lounge.

Rolling Stone Magazine

Issue 952/953
July 8-22, 2004
By DAVID FRICKE
Singer/guitarist/songwriter Eric Ambel is no knucklehead. He is many other things: an alumnus 1980's roots-punk band The

Del-Lords; member of both Steve Earle's band the Dukes and cheerful hell raisers the Yayhoos; running buddy of the Skeletons and the Bottlerockets' leader of his own cool crew, Roscoe's Gang.

Ambel gives you some of everything in this hat trick: two ace reissues (Roscoe’s Gang, from 1988, ‘94’s Loud & Lonesome) and a new, jumpin' trawl thru the outtakes drawer, which yields a knuckle-cracking Del-Lords cover of the Flamin' Groovies "Shake Some Action" and a home-cooked take on Tom Waits

"Union Sqare", in which Ambel rocks like the '72 Rolling Stones-all my himself.

Time Out New York

July 8-15, 2004

Eric Ambel:Knucklehead,

By SCOTT SCHINDER

Eric Ambel has been a cornerstone of the local rock scene since the early '80s, when he left Joan Jett's Blackhearts and cofounded the roots-rockin' Del-Lords. Since then, he's built an estimable resume as a producer and musician, currently serving as lead guitarist of Steve Earle's Dukes and as a member of all-star neoshitkickers the Yayhoos.

The singer-songwriter and guitarist's own projects deliver crunchy, catchy guitar rock with smart-alecky lyrics prone to revealing harsh emotional truths. That's the case on Knucklehead, Ambel's third solo effort and the
inaugural release of his Lakeside Lounge label (which shares its name with the East Village bar that he co-owns). Although the 15-track collection is drawn from a decade and a half's worth of studio odds and ends, Ambel's punchy ethic unites the rockiest rush of "Hole in My Head," the chugging surrealism of "Stepside" and the bruised vulnerability of the reworked Del-Lords number "Judas Kiss." Elsewhere, the artist's uneasy take on Neil Young's "Revolution Blues" lends urgency to that song's sense of looming societal breakdown, while his reading of the sentimental pop standard "Always on My Mind" captures the late-night regret that's the flip side of
his bar-band bluster.

Like all of Ambel's best work, Knucklehead suggests a parallel universe in which the Stones never got shitty, the Faces never broke up, and adulthood never conflicted with the ability to rock like a mofo.

Amplifier Magazine

July/August, 2004,

Eric Ambel:Knucklehead,

By JOHN HOLCOMB

Eric Ambel is a godhead. There, I've said it.  If you don't own his first two solo records, Roscoe's Gang and Loud & Lonesome, I suggest you pick them up right now, as they have been reissued on his own Lakeside Lounge label.  Oh yes, and then there's the new one, Knucklehead, my favorite record so far in 2004.  Knucklehead   is simply a roots rock tour de force combining ace song writing, muscular guitar playing (I've said it before here in print that NO ONE gets a better guitar sound on tape than Ambel), and stellar support (Terry Anderson, Dan Baird, Keith Christopher, Steve Earle, Andy York, Warner Hodges, Jeremy Tepper and others). Things kick off in a righteous manner with "Feel So Good," a swingin' pre-Yayhoos Ambel-Anderson-Baird co-write.  "Stepside" is an ominous rocker featuring distorted drums, wah-wah guitar, and rap (!).  A great version of "Shake Some Action" is from the last Del Lords session, and this version of "Judas Kiss" (featuring the Yayhoos and Steve Earle) is easily the best ever.  "Garbagehead" is a blistering party tune you'll turn up to eleven, and the cover of Neil Young's "Revolution Blues" that closes the record is plain spooky.  Eric Ambel can do no wrong.  Pick up all three of his records right now, or risk an unfulfilled life!