MACH 5 are named as much for Speed Racer’s car as for lead singer Mach Bell, who fronted the seminal Boston first-wave punk-era band, Thundertrain. And he’s lost none of the power, growl or grit. This new combo has all the earmarks of hook-laden bar rock that would fit in well on the shelf with the NY Dolls and their ilk. Right from the start on "Meet Mach 5" they pound you into the floor with “Get It Up”. Bell and the ridiculously monikered (but good songsmith) Dee Stroy wrote this and many of the others. “Deadly Combination” is almost an updated version of Wayne County’s “Max’s Kansas City”, looking at the wasted deaths of the likes of Thunders, Vicious, and Spungen. There are also some interesting covers, including Kirsty McaColl’s “They Don’t Know” (also previously covered by Tracy Ullman, and which seems a bit out of place here), Mose Allison’s total I-IV-V rave-up “If You’re Goin’ to the City”, and Alice Cooper’s “Under My Wheels” also make an appearance. But they’re local Boston boys, and they make it clear with shout outs to “Quincy Girl” and “Kenmore Square”. This CD is a fun flashback of pure rock power. Welcome back, Mach. – RBF/FFanzeen
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Mach 5 are, in my opinion, a combination of 70's rock, modern bar rock, punk, classic rock with a bit of sleaze and maybe even some garage rock thrown in as well. It's kind of funny that I got this album because, well, let me try to paint a picture here for you so you know what I'm talking about.

Just the other day, I was listening to the Def Leppard album "On Through The Night," as well as early releases from bands like Kix, AC/DC, Venom, Motley Crue and Bon Jovi. With every artist I mentioned, it was pretty much their debut release that I was talkin' about. Anyway, I made a comment about how they don't make albums like this anymore. Every band I just mentioned, of course, went on to bigger and better things, which is cool. But, those early releases had a raw, aggressive feel and, in most cases, they're no the albums that people usually point to when they're talkin' about the bands "greatest" record and I never understood why. These releases were pure and, like I said, they had a raw, aggressive feel. You don't hear that kind of music anymore. But, as I sat here listening to "Meet Mach 5," that's exactly what I heard and, let me tell you something, this album became a favorite from the moment I heard it because of that. I know what I heard and I didn't need anything to back up my opinion. However, after reading the liner notes on this album, vocalist Mach Bell said it best...he wrote, and I quote, "We recorded the set just like we play it in the clubs every weekend. Mach 5 was designed to be enjoyed undiluted. We have all been heavily influenced by the hardest rocking songs of the 50's, 60's, 70's and 80's. I am not too sure what happened to rock in the 90's...but...I am hoping you guys can all get behind what Mach 5 is dishing out today. I gotta rock!"

There's only one other thing I'd like to add. When it comes time to record another album, I seriously hope Mach 5 holds on to the magic that can be heard on this release because this is what rock 'n' roll should sound like and "Meet Mach 5" is a perfect example of how a band can sound today while still remaining true to what rock 'n' roll should be. Gotta love it! (Paul Autry)
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Quincy Girl is a gem of resentment with straightforward but effective lyrics, with lines like “Shut your pie hole Quincy girl.” The honk of the sparingly used harmonica on “Deadly Combination” adds a nice contrast to the distorted rhythm guitar while Mach Bell delivers a brief history lesson that encompasses Elvis, the New York Dolls, and Sid and Nancy. 
Mach 5 does a surprisingly good job on the Tracey Ullman cover “They Don’t Know,” and manages to squeeze out a respectable version of Alice Cooper’s “Under My Wheels.” Meet Mach 5 has everything you would want to hear in an album that summarizes the garage rock sound, but don’t expect it to deal with complex issues of the day. Meet Mach 5 is a lighthearted, great sounding album — nothing more, nothing less. (Lawless Records) 
-Paul Price (5/06)
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Torna alla carica uno dei migliori frontman che il Rock’n’Roll abbia mai avuto, nonché uno dei miei preferiti in assoluto, Mr. “Cowboy” Mach Bell, e lo fa alla grande chiamando a se tre dei migliori elementi della scena di Boston (l’ex Real Kids Jimmy Birmingham, batteria – l’ex Sugabomb e The Johnnies Dee Stroy, chitarra – Jeff Thomas, basso) per dar vita ai Mach 5, sorta di “All-Star band” che, senza tanti fronzoli, prende allegramente a calci in culo gran parte delle bands in circolazione da un po’ di tempo a questa parte.

La cosa non sorprenderà di certo chi conosce le gesta dei Thundertrain, attivi per un’estemporanea reunion fino all’anno scorso ed apparentemente archiviati, così come non sorprenderà chi ha avuto il piacere di ascoltare i The Johnnies del chitarrista Dee Stroy, axeman veramente dotato e capace di sfornare riffs “assassini” in ogni brano. La parola chiave per definire i 4 ragazzacci è sempre e solo una: Attitudine! Ne hanno da vendere ed hanno scelto il mio modo preferito per farlo capire chiaramente: non è Metal pur avendone la potenza ed a tratti (perché no) la perizia tecnica, non è Punk ma ha la carica oltraggiosa, la veemenza e l’urgenza elementare di quei tre benedetti accordi, non è Garage ma ne possiede genuinità e spirito (la cover del Cd la dice lunga)… si signori, è ancora e “solo” grande, abrasivo, fottuto Rock’n’Roll!

Dieci pezzi per altrettanti “sganassoni” dritti dritti sui vostri brutti ceffi, uno dietro l’altro senza darvi respiro, ma - e qui si sentono qualità, capacità ed esperienza – senza perdere di vista melodia e refrain, che in alcuni brani è assolutamente vincente. Caldo e roccioso Hard’n’Roll nell’opener “Get It Up” ed in “Kandyland”; torbido Blues impreziosito da una lancinante e sofferta armonica in “Deadly Combination”, “Through To You” è selvaggia quanto basta ma con un refrain che non se ne va più dalla zucca, “Quincy Girl” è puro e sboccato N.Y. Sound, tra Dictators e Ramones, gran pezzo ed altro refrain azzeccato. Tre le cover in scaletta: il bel power pop “They Don’t Know” (Kirsty McColl), il graffiante Blues urbano “If You’re Goin’ To The City” (Mose Allison) ed una versione “da paura” di “Under My Wheels” (A. Cooper), infine è grande boogie/glam in “25 Hours A Day”, sospeso fra Slade e N.Y.Dolls, ed hard-punk di classe nella conclusiva ed anthemica “Kenmore Square”.

“Siamo stati tutti pesantemente influenzati dalle canzoni più dure e rockeggianti dei fifties, sixties, seventies ed eighties. Non sono certo di cosa sia successo al Rock nei nineties…” Parole sante, Cowboy, e meno male che all’alba del 2006 esiste ancora gente col fuoco dentro come te… Hell Tonite! Buy it or Die!
(Gaetano Fezza)
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