The Morlocks Play Chess might sound like some bizarre H.G Wells inspired prog rock album, but this release is far from pretentious. If anything, this record by The Morlocks is almost proudly low brow, featuring 12 bare bones versions of classic blues cuts from the legendary Chess Records catalogue. Chess is the Chicago based record company that was famous for its extensive line up of blues artists including Howlin’ Wolf, John Lee Hooker, and Muddy Waters. The Morlocks have decided to pay tribute to these men with a Stooges meets Chicago blues blend of abrasive and dirty garage rock.

To say The Morlocks are influenced by Iggy Pop and the Stooges would be an understatement. Getting their start in the ’80s, the similarities are undeniable with lead singer Leighton Koizumi’s sneering vocals and the loud distorted guitar work. The group definitely conveys the reckless attitude of the early punks, but how well does that translate into blues music? Luckily, the blues is probably one of the roughest, down and dirty genres ever to exist. This lends quite nicely to the already simplified rock and roll of The Morlocks, and songs like “I’m a Man” and “Killing Floor” exhibit a great blend of their style with the original blues tracks.

That’s not to say it’s all good, however, as there are a few tracks from the album that don’t quite gel with the rest. It seems that whenever the band branches out by adding in some keyboards or other instrumentation, it comes off as hokey, like the final track “Back in the USA.” The band also falters on the slower songs, like the meanderingly dull “You Never Can Tell.” The band’s strength is in loud fast-paced rock, and when they turn it back, it just feels boring when compared to the rest.

Another issue is the fact that this is a cover album, which only has so much musical mileage before it loses its appeal. In this case, it might disappear even more quickly due to the fact that the subject material contains many songs that have been covered about a dozen times, (that being a conservative estimate) but such is the problem when working with blues tunes. The always reliable Wikipedia claims that the song “Who Do You Love” has been covered at least 26 times alone. I found myself thinking of other variations of songs like “Smokestack Lightning” that I preferred over the ones offered here by the Morlocks.

The Morlocks Play Chess is ultimately an album aimed at a fairly niche audience. Those who love their gritty punk rock and blues standards will probably find at least a few interesting points in this album. For anyone looking for something groundbreaking, this is the last place to look. I would say the Morlocks aren’t very fresh, though I imagine the band would probably take a considerable amount of pride in that.