Frauds – With Morning Toast & Jam & Juice

Dec19

It cannot be just coincidence that year on year December brings some of the relevant year’s best and often most dramatic releases. Maybe it is just that they generally come within a concentrated two week burst with the year’s final pair of weeks more likely to be party time for all so that it is more noticeable than in other equally productive months but there does seem to be a real gathering of striking encounters as the year makes its departure. The debut album from UK duo Frauds simply adds to the evidence, With Morning Toast & Jam & Juice a glorious cacophony of noise bred rock ‘n’ roll infested with post punk and post hardcore rapacity.

Formed in late 2012, Croydon hailing Frauds consists of Chris Francombe (drum/vocals) and Mikey Alvarez (guitar/vocals), a musical partnership which seems to hail from well before their latest venture burst into life. Inspired by the likes of Nick Cave, Tom Waits, Sonic Youth, Fugazi, Mclusky, Hot Snakes, and Drive Like Jehu, the pair initially began jamming together again with the intent of only playing covers. Soon though their own imagination and creativity took over and new songs emerged. Since then the band has become a potent presence on the capital’s live scene sharing stages with the likes of Idles, Life, HMLTD, Tigercub, Demob Happy, Kagoule, USA Nails, Slaves, Blacklisters, Queen Kwong and site favs The St. Pierre Snake Invasion along the way. Fresh from tour dates alongside ex-Reuben front man Jamie Lenman, Frauds are poised to nag national attention with Morning Toast & Jam & Juice, a niggling hard to see failing such its raw majesty.

Let’s Find Out kicks things off, a riveting tendril of guitar winding around ears and soon joined by the thump of Francombe’s beats. Second by second the web expands, Alvarez’s guitar creating a clamorous jangle with post punk hues to its sharp spice. Vocals equally have a caustic edge, courting the repetitious magnetism of the encounter with punk attitude and ferocity. Sonic shimmers and distortions only add to the virulent nagging, the track as much an intro as a complete offering luring ears and instinctive attention into the waiting depths of the album.

Next up, Smooth instantly twists and turns around the senses, its post punk/alternative rock antics as invasive as they are seductive. Like the spawn of a union between The Three Johns, The Droppers Neck, and Mclusky, the song swings along drawing the listener deeper into its feral majesty before The Feeding Frenzy envelops ears with its noir clad atmospheric drama. Sonic smog devours as vocals provoke, the underlying volatility brewing a ravenous toxic drone as flirtatious as it is debilitating.

From its virulent inhospitality, the mischievous exploits of Sandwiches emerge, the song a rash of hooks and rhythms around brash vocals; all carrying a liquor of humour and captivating causticity. Again there is an eighties post punk discordance in allegiance with modern creative antipathy and again everything uniting in a corrosion of punk irritability which simply sparks ears and an instinctive appetite for noise rock. As it evolves with increasing imagination, the track feeds ears with a delicious groan of bassoon-esque guitar; its barracuda tone pure manna for these senses and matched in addictiveness by the duo’s vocal lures. There are numerous major moments within the album but this is the pinnacle with ease.

The psychotic rock ‘n’ roll of Just Come Of Age comes next to be a strong rival though, beats a kinetic psychosis matched by the wandering tendrils of guitar and vocal theatre. The Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster easily comes to mind as the song plays with the imagination, crawling over the senses with predacious glee and tenacity.

Suck Jobs keeps the thrills high with its senses scathing sonic enticements and vocal abrasions, the song mercurial in air and relentless in infectious dynamics while Doom prowls and seeps through the body with grievous intent. Its suffocating tones devour mood and thoughts, dragging attention by the throat into a finale which is pure punk ferocity. The track is one of the least easily accessible trespasses provided by the album but joining all in leaving pleasure brimming.

With Morning Toast & Jam & Juice concludes with firstly Could’ve, Should’ve, Would’ve, another carnally tart and compelling stroll with an Engerica hue to its visceral contagion, and finally through the transfixing saunter of Give In. Rhythmically hypnotic and melodically haunting with a just as appetising acrid edge, the song slowly entangles the senses, its own individual drone like bait viral persuasion becoming more chafing and disturbing second by second.

With a hidden scar of punk as its actual final breath, With Morning Toast & Jam & Juice leaves pleasure high and anticipation for their next move lustful. As earlier mentioned there have been numerous really stirring propositions this year yet it is hard to remember many as glorious as the debut from Frauds.

With Morning Toast & Jam & Juice is available now through Till Deaf Do Us Party Records and available @ https://fraudsfraudsfrauds.bandcamp.com/album/with-morning-toast-jam-juice

https://www.facebook.com/fraudsfraudsfrauds/

Pete RingMaster 19/12/2017

Rooster Cole – Swan Song EP

Oct17

First the sad news…Swan Song is most likely the last outing from Rooster Cole and the good news? It is one seriously irresistible collection of tracks which epitomises the instinctive talent in songwriting and craft of its creator.

It is not the last we will be hearing of Mark S. Aaron either, the man behind the project and frontman for British outfit Black Black Hills which are still sorely missed, as he is moving on to new adventures with his next project, Mount Sinai. The Swan Song EP is a farewell which is much more than a goodbye as it is sure to awaken new ears to the history of Rooster Cole and previous triumphs like the More Than You and Bird Don’t Sing EPs as well as hopefully into the waiting arms of Black Black Hills before.

Aaron is one of Britain’s most individual and unique songwriters and artists, every note and syllable created and delivered with a dramatic flourish and imagination fuelled enterprise. Within Swan Song alone, you can hear and feel the time taken and heart fuelling every aspect and moment of songs. It is aural theatre which invades the listener’s ears and imagination within a sound which resembles in its unique way the likes of Scott Walker, Roy Orbison, Nick Cave, and The Doors. To its particular grandeur though is an intimacy which takes you right into the blues bred soul of artist and song. Rooster Cole is a magnetic affair which has been no more seductive than with Swan Song.

The EP opens with 3102, a vibrant stroll with instantly catchy rhythms and a flirtatious hook. Guitar and bass share their magnetism around the distinctive tones of Aaron, all almost dancing with each other and indeed the listener as they head to a chorus no one could resist getting involved in. Every syllable dropping from Aaron’s lips is wrapped in emotion and suggestion, each note draped in melodic poetry as rhythms continue to guide hips and shoulders with their percussive swing. A warm stroll for the lover in us all, the song is pure manna for ears and emotions.

Animal Kingdom follows with its own instinctive sway and devilry. A fifties doo wop like lure instantly beckons aside Aaron’s rich emotive tones, that nostalgic scenting continuing to colour the appetite as harmonies and low key but magnetic melodies gather. It too makes it simply impossible not to get caught and fully drawn into the song’s embrace, infesting body and spirit with energy rich melancholic beauty.

A post punk tinge comes with next up In Line, sonic twinges springing across a rhythmic shuffle as vocals croon with eager tenacity. With every word and expression, an intimate desperation flows from the throat of Aaron, its outbreak fire on the repetitive lure of the music. It is a heat which in turn fuels the magnetic flames of guitar which erupt as the superb song sizzles to its climax leaving ears and lust hungry almost desperate for more.

The release concludes with the emotive drama of It Is You, a serenade which gathers its thoughts and emotive heat line by line, chord by chord to flame with candescent majesty. It is a song which maybe does not strike as forcibly as its companions on the first listen but blossoms into an essential richly emotive hug which sums up the exciting adventure with Rooster Cole these past years perfectly.

Though it is not the last we will be blessed with the imagination of Mark S. Aaron, it is hard not to have a sense of sadness that this is most probably the end of Rooster Cole. As with all great relationships, good memories will prevail and great songs continue to linger in the passions, Swan Song offering a heady dose of both.

The Swan Song EP is out now on iTunes and @ https://roostercole.bandcamp.com/album/swan-song-ep

https://roostercole.com/ https://www.facebook.com/roostercolemusic/ https://twitter.com/theroostercole

Pete RingMaster 17/10/2017

Bridport Dagger – Wolves/Trembling Sky

Sep16

Sometimes you just do not know the goodness which is on your doorstep. Recently we had the pleasure of being introduced by one of their numbers to Bridport Dagger, a band which it turned out rehearsed and recorded in their singer’s home studio merely ten minutes away from The RR. Even more enjoyably, the meeting left us with the UK outfit’s new single in our eager hands and the urge to tell you about its rather tasty contents as well as the important message to constantly check out and support your local scene as you never know what treats you may find.

There is not a great deal of info we can tell you about the band except that it consists of vocalist/guitarist Jason Idnani-Powdrill, guitarist Lawrence Rice, bassist/guitarist Chaz Foster, and drummer/keyboardist Arran Goodchild. The quartet draws on the inspirations of artists and flavours such as Suicide, Nadine Shah, Roy Orbison, Guadalupe Plata, Clinic, The Gun Club, Flamenco, Get Your Gun, Fado, Ennio Morricone, and film noir especially the work of Wim Wenders and recently performed in an echo chamber under the river Thames and supplied sound design for a seven day immersive play in Berlin. But their sound you ask…well the most important thing here is a dark and seductive collusion of numerous flavours and textures but is maybe best described as Nick Cave and The Walker Brothers meeting Echo and The Bunnymen on a Tarantino set as Japanese Fighting Fish share their creative devilment. What emerges is something individual and magnetic to Bridport Dagger as epitomised by the double A sided lead of new single Wolves/Trembling Sky.

The single is actually a real meaty chunk as it also includes the band’s previous EP Knife through Water including a re-mastered version of its lead track and a couple of songs from that earlier mentioned soundtrack . The single opens with Wolves and an immediate clash of sound as rhythms and guitars collide. From within the inviting clamour a rumble brews; its tone rockabilly like as the guitars between them wrap a jungle of riffs in a sultry melody as Idnani-Powdrill’s vocals begin the shadowed croon of the song. Already the magnetism is addiction level, the subsequent scythes of guitar compelling across the captivation of bass and beats as the band’s rock ‘n’ roll shares dark flirtation. Every passing second brings a new twist of drama and sound, unpredictability as thick as the imagination flowing through the outstanding encounter.

Its partner, Trembling Sky is instantly a less intense proposition, a psych rock melody dancing over the darker hues of bass and again grumbling riffs. There is a Doors-esque air to the song, a shadowed lining to its lively spirit and bounce, and a sixties instrumental tone to the guitars which only adds to its instinctive attraction. As its predecessor, the song just hits personal wants and tastes full on though at two and a half minutes or so it frustrates when it ends just as lust rises.

The rest of the release starts with tracks found on that previously mentioned EP released last year with a re-worked mix of acclaimed track Harry Dean Stanton first up. As this piece is being composed news has just come through that the actor has died; a sad timing which instantly brings a poignant edge to song and its embrace of ears and focus. The song is a dusty shimmer on the senses, a poetic sigh spiked by shards of glassy guitar and soaked with the serenade of keys; a proposition which is masterfully enthralling from start to finish.

Next up is Cowboy Drone, a track which nags and teases like a menacing mix of The Birthday Party and The Doors that sizes up the listener with every note and breath before taking them through a tombstone littered climate soaked in post punk/psych rock discord and theatre. The track is glorious, a noir drenched drama of sound and voice which thrusts the imagination into the heat of dark trespasses.

Taken from the soundtrack of the Twin Peaks inspired theatre performance Bridport Dagger created the music for, The Dangling Man is one of two original songs it was bookended by, the following Lyra the other. The first is a sombre, almost caliginous play for ears and imagination with vocals and music a shadowy lure and the melodramatic caresses of sax courtesy of George Cleghorn sublimely suggestive while the second is a fifties hued dark ballad with more than a touch of Roy Orbison to its emotional humidity. Both tracks transport the listen to a dark and intoxicating place impossible to resist lingering within.

The livelier rock ‘n’ roll of The Butcher of Rome has hips swaying and appetite dancing, bass and beats alone a rousing shuffle to be enslaved by, a trap tightened by the teasing jangle of guitars, the seductive strokes of keys, and the storytelling prowess of the vocals.

The release is completed by the sweltering emotional drenched spectacle of Wilderness, a song which gets bolder and more psychotic and discordant with every passing minute for a mouth-watering finale of provocative noise and melodic toxicity.

Wolves and Trembling Sky as a single is one of the year’s most riveting experiences on the year so far; add the rest of its treats and you have one of the most essential come its release in October.

Wolves/Trembling Sky is released October 13^th.

Upcoming live dates:

21st September: Bethnal Green Working Mens Club, London

29th September: Insomnia, Berlin

8th October: Twin Peaks UK Festival, London

10th October: Half Moon Putney, London

13th October: The Lexington (with the Flaming Stars and Get Your Gun), London

4th November: Paper Dress vintage 4th Birthday Party, London

https://www.facebook.com/bridportdagger https://bridportdagger.bandcamp.com/

Pete RingMaster 16/09/2017

Sly Palms – Self Titled EP

Jul11

As they introduced themselves to us with their debut release, we introduce you to the individual Weirdo Wonk sounds of Sly Palms and one magnetically enjoyable self-titled debut EP. From the ever giving Bristol music scene, the British quintet brew up their own individual fusion of garage, psych, and blues rock described as “Nick Cave meets Go Go Bordello through the Doors.” All are references which add up as you listen to the five tracks making up their first release but also imagine the involvement of essences from My Baby, 13th Floor Elevators, and Horse Party and you have a fuller if still not quite accurate inkling to the band’s imaginative adventure.

Recorded at Malthouse Studios with Dom Mitchinson (Spectres, Oliver Wilde), the EP quickly has ears enticed with Bottle Of Sin, the new single from Sly Palms. Immediately the opener teases and tempts with its spicy percussive grooving and new wave like movement, early XTC coming to mind in the song’s unpredictable quirkiness before things settle a touch around the vocal lure of keyboardist Louise Schwarz. Poking beats and jabbing swings collude with her fine vocals, that eighties hue merging with a brewing blues revelry as the song grows even more flirtatious and irresistible with each passing second. Additional discord only adds to the pleasure, the song mere notes away from chaos at times and only blossoming with boldness because of it.

Things are a touch more reserved from hereon in across the EP but no less enjoyable as the swarthy rock ‘n’ roll of Spanish Song proves. With sultry blues melodies uniting with hazy psych nurtured sighs, the song has the same mischievous nature as its predecessor but strolls along with a less agitated gait. Lead vocals this time are taken by guitarist Ian Cross, or it could be fellow string picker Alex Davies or indeed drummer Jake Cheesman; whoever the supplier their grainy tone only adds to the Tom Waits spiced proposal swiftly tempting and pleasing ears. The warm keys and floating harmonies of Schwarz similarly enthral and add to a creative drama which is no less potent within next up River Rhein. With a rockabilly/country rock coaxing to its catchy shuffle, the song has the body bouncing, gently at first but with increasing vigour as crescendos of rock ‘n’ roll erupt across its increasingly heated body.

The bass of Jaime Botella is a perpetually appetising throb within all tracks, adding an instinctive pulse and often growl which is especially alluring within the more unkempt climate of Slaughterhouse. The track is superb, challenging the first for best track honours with its rowdy rock ‘n’ roll and expectation defeating devilment of sound and imagination.

The more lo-fi presence and touch of Wall brings things to a potent close, the song a dance of harmonies and rattling rhythms as the band weaves another slice of off kilter sound as blues, garage, and psych rock as it is simply ear exciting rock ‘n’ roll.

With potential as vocal in every song as existing imagination and adventure, Sly Palms have made a powerfully persuasive introduction to themselves with their debut. Already they have nurtured something unique about themselves and intriguingly we, like they, have only just scratched the surface.

The Sly Palms EP is released July 14^th.

14/07/17 – E.P. Launch Party @ The Old England

10/08/17 – The Louisiana, Bristol

24/11/17 – St. James’ Wine Vaults, Bath

https://www.facebook.com/SlyPalms/

Pete RingMaster 11/07/2017

Bernaccia – Growl Peace Belief

Oct13

lp-cover_RingMasterReview

Having followed with eagerness the progress of British band Bernaccia since the release of their debut EP in 2014, it has been a source of great enjoyment hearing the evolution in their striking sound. A proposition truly hard to pin down but openly flavoured by essences seeded in the likes of neo-psych rock, desert blues, and Eastern spices, the Newcastle band’s music has blossomed from the low key yet fully magnetic alternative/psych rock tempting of that first outing, the Cinema EP, to the rousingly haunting and spiritually anthemic soundscapes making up first album Growl Peace Belief. The nine track offering simply absorbs the senses, picking up the imagination with equal ease as tribal bred rhythms and melodic suggestiveness unite with harmonic flames and lyrical drama. It is one of those rare releases which comes and along and bewitches with aural alchemy; an album forcibly pushing the band to the fore of the UK rock scene.

Originally a quartet when forming in 2014 and more recently a quintet with the addition of vocalist Ellen Chetcuti’s charmed tones alongside the powerful delivery of vocalist/guitarist Jonny Noble, Bernaccia has increasingly drawn rich attention through a live presence taking in shows with the likes of Royal Blood, Lola Colt, Alabama 3, The Fall, Twisted Wheel, CUD, and Wolf People among many and releases like Cinema, its successor Light//-//Dark later that first year and singles such as Power To The Hills, Awake, and recently Angel. Each has revealed a new blossoming in the sound and imagination of the band, it all now coming to a head in the climactic Growl Peace Belief.

The album opens up with War Cry; a track emerging from an intriguing coastal sounding landscape as the listener is drawn by an exotic guitar melody with inviting tabla inspired beats courting the coaxing. Expanding its embrace with every passing second, an Echo and The Bunnymen feel caressing the imagination, Noble’s voice is the final pull into the shamanic bordering on erotic seducing of the senses. With the darker hues of Kieran Healy’s bass a brooding tone alongside the insistent repetition of Chris Cox’s drums, and the united roar of Noble and Chetcuti an inescapable engagement over their respective psyche entangling enterprise, the track is fiercely irresistible only imposing its persuasive weight further through the creative synth drama cast by Stew Falkous.

bernaccia_promo_photo_RingMasterReview The following Spiral is a slimmer proposal in terms of intensity, wrapping ears swiftly with an eighties synth pop welcome with just a touch of Bowie’s Heroes to it. As the synth bubbles and expels riveting mists of electronic enterprise into the air, guitar and bass begin weaving a tapestry of imagination which in turn seems to instigate a growing tempestuousness coming to a towering head as the vocalists expertly combine. Departing with the same masterful charm it started with, the song makes way for an equally thrilling proposal in Awake. Rhythms instantly trap attention with their tenacious dance, Chetcuti joining them with her firmly enticing voice backed by Noble soon after before the song drops into a mystique laden bellow of sound with the latter seizing ears as that shamanic prowess of the band again grips body and spirit. The imagination constantly has a field day with Bernaccia songs, this one like a flight across a cavernous and intimately spiritual soundscape.

Power To The Hills also provides eighties reminding hues, this time King Trigger with their similar rhythmic invention and Nick Cave through the song’s dark rock n’ roll graced theatre of word and tone suggested in thoughts. The track is another which builds dramatic crescendos which boldly ignite the senses, the build of melodic and rhythmic ingenuity leading to them just as rewarding and provocative as the fiery expulsions themselves.

As the ear enslaving captivation of Angel and the poppier shuffle of Vega come and go, band and album simply tighten their grip and further inflame an already discovered appetite for the Bernaccia invention. The first of the pair is arguably the least imposing of the band’s songs but just as virulent in its imagination and infectious psychedelically hued tempting while its successor has all the shadowy beauty and danger found in other songs but with a catchiness which infests the listener as a blues/psych flavouring similar to that conjured by My Baby arrests the imagination.

Every track within Growl Peace Belief is a treat with Murder one of the most thrilling next with its repetitive keys placed melody and volcanic intensity. Graced by another glorious vocal union between Noble and Chetcuti and the individual theatre of sound and suggestiveness crafted by all, the track is superb, it’s nagging quality alone manna for ears before Senorita consumes with its romancing Latin seduction and dramatic rhythms as keys and harmonies virtually swamp the senses.

Concluded by its invasively melodic and drama driven title track, another stunning pinnacle of the album deserving ears more than words to reflect its might, Growl Peace Belief is the realisation of the hard work, thick imagination, and spirited energy Bernaccia has spent and discovered these past two years. It is also the declaration of a band ready to have a big say on the British rock scene ahead.

Growl Peace Belief is out now and available through many online stores and @ https://bernaccia.bandcamp.com/

https://www.facebook.com/BernacciaMusic/ https://twitter.com/bernaccia

Pete RingMaster 13/10/2016

Kobadelta – The Metaphysical

Sep28

photography-by-adam-kennedy

It is fair to say that their quartet of previous EPs have established Kobadelta as one of the most intriguing and captivating prospects to emerge on the British music scene in recent years and also that listening to the evolution of their seriously tantalising sound has captivated almost as much as the noise itself. October sees the release of the Newcastle bred outfit’s new encounter and another growth in songwriting, music, and temptation.

Their five-track EP, The Metaphysical, sees the band’s psych rock spiced sound reveal its richest and most adventurous landscape yet with an even greater weave of textures and flavours. Melodies are imposing, harmonies bewitching yet both offering magnetic warmth which shimmers and radiates against the instinctive dark tones and emotive shadows which breed the band’s songs. It is a tapestry which lays the Kobadelta sound somewhere between Echo and The Bunnymen and The Doors with an almost gothic Nick Cave essence for extra flavouring.

Formed in 2010, the quintet soon built a potent live reputation locally, nudging on wider recognition with the release of debut EP Ritual (Time Flies) three years later. 2014 saw the band make bigger strides towards national awareness and in sound through both the Hidden Door and Remain Distracted EPs, their success subsequently eclipsed by the Open Visions EP last year. It was a dark and compelling encounter pushing the band’s sound to another level which now The Metaphysical cements and takes on again while still showing the potential of even more adventures to be discovered and explored within the band. With shows alongside the likes of Temples, Allusondrugs, We Were Promised Jetpacks, Demob Happy, Splashh, The Temperance Movement, The Weeks, Lola Colt, and The Voyeurs among many more, and those aforementioned releases, sparking a real appetite for the band’s sound, The Metaphysical might just be the moment Kobadelta hits the broadest spotlights.

The EP swiftly captures ears and imagination with opener Hold Yr’self, the track seducing initially with the caress of suggested pipes before the song tumbles into view with tangy grooves and swinging rhythms. There is no escaping The Doors scenting to any of the band’s song, though Ian McCulloch and co are probably a stronger spicing to what soon shows itself to be distinctly Kobadelta. With the synths of Jordan Robson dancing around the magnetic melodic weave cast by guitarist Alex Malliris, the imagination is soon hooked, gripped tighter as the potent vocals of Dom Noble bring a darker edge in collusion with the rapier swings of drummer Jon Marley and Chris Malliris’ brooding basslines.

It is a compelling start matched by the infectious stroll of the similarly shadow rich and sonically fiery Ride By The Light. Mixing mellower seducing with those dynamic flames of sound and energy, the song is a whirlpool of adventure and drama. There are moments which remind of early but again as keys wrap the predacious tone of the bass in just one of the track’s major attractions, Kobadelta unveil something unique to themselves.

Bathsheba raises the energy and sultriness of the band’s sound next; its raw mystique and fuzzy climate a feisty wrapping to the tenacious rhythms driving yet another irresistible proposal from the EP. As lyrics and vocals tell a story so does the music, both colluding in a spirit rousing incitement which seems to become darker and more volatile with every enjoyable listen; a potency emulated in the following Is This The Start Of Something Beautiful? and its ferine adventure. So easy to get physically and mentally sucked into its suggestive kaleidoscope of sound, the song trespasses and transfixes the senses as each band member unleashes their fiery enterprise.

Bringing the EP to a magnificent close is You Don’t Need To Ask…, a slow prowl of a headily dark song which borders on demonic even with its theatre of catchy charm, spellbinding melodies, and predacious rhythms. There is a definite occult rock air to the track and its dark romance with the minimal but powerful presence of piano icing on another mighty and increasingly tempestuous highlight of the release.

There are a few bands which have emerged in recent years for which it is hard not to find a touch of real excitement to go along with anticipation upon word of a new proposition from them. The Metaphysical is the perfect example as to why Kobadelta is firmly one of them.

The Metaphysical EP is released in October with its launch show on Friday 4th November in Newcastle at Think Tank – Underground with support from local bands Hazels and FOTO.

https://www.facebook.com/Kobadelta

Pete RingMaster 28/09/2016

Pearl Handled Revolver – If The Devil Cast His Net

Apr28

This month British rockers Pearl Handled Revolver release their third album, a collection of dark rock ‘n’ roll encounters which almost deviously seduce ears as they work their way into the psyche. The band spins tales of mystery and intrigue graced shadows, creative episodes shaped and coloured by the magnetic hues of blues and psych rock, though that is simplifying the enthralling tapestries of sound and imagination making up If The Devil Cast His Net.

Since forming, Pearl Handled Revolver has released four EPs and two full length albums, all between 2010 and 2013, and shared stages on tour at shows with the likes of The Black Crowes, Stray, The Blockheads, FM, The Quireboys, Black Star Riders, Toots and the Maytalls, Donovan, and Focus along the way. It is fair to say that the quartet has not been lost for acclaim and attention but equally with If The Devil Cast His Net, they have breached a new plateau on creativity and sound which you can only see being rewarded by a similar increase in attention and reward.

With the gravelly tones of Lee Vernon fronting the house of blues mystery, a Tom Waits like comparison is easy to offer but equally the band’s sound has tantalising hues reminding of The Doors, Nick Cave, and Japanese Fighting Fish to its magnetic body and invention. It is a rich temptation working away at seducing ears from the start of If The Devil Cast His Net, opener Help Me Down From The Trees gripping the imagination within seconds as the pulsating lure of Simon Rinaldo’s peddle bass is immersed in the mystique soaked suggestiveness of his keys. It is a quite mesmeric coaxing driven by the great nagging beats of Chris Thatcher and only increasing in temptation as the scythes of guitarist Andy Paris seem to spark a new weave of organ cast enterprise. Dark and brooding yet simultaneously warm and celebratory, the song beguiles as it intrigues, Vernon’s dusty tones opening up the narrative for greater captivating drama. It is mesmeric stuff, the bass a perpetually enjoyable nagging and the spicy lilt of the keys a dark temptation within a fiery dance of sound and creative theatre.

The sensational start is followed by the more straight forward rock ‘n’ roll of Don’t Throw It Away. A cleaner tone to the vocals is matched by a lighter spring in the step and voice of the psychedelia lined sounds around them. A sixties/seventies mixed scent potently adds to the inviting lure of the song and though it cannot live up to its brilliant predecessor, it has ears and body rocking before they are faced with the tantalising seduction of Someone Like You. It’s surf rock spiced melodies and ambience is a swift bewitchment, as too the rolling rhythmic bait of Thatcher; all caressing and coaxing the senses as Vernon’s sandy tones paint an evocative picture in word and tone. It is a hex of a song, a spellbinding incitement of appetite and imagination to bind listener and release closer together.

The rhythmic design of the track is emulated in the album’s title track, though around it the guitar and keys weave their own distinct episode of encroaching shadows and sultry flavours around the devil’s lyrical play. A compelling persuasion, it is matched in success by the melancholic hug of Walk These Streets. Reflective and emotive, the song is a smouldering serenade painted by the cleaner side of Vernon’s voice, provocative strings, and the sombre yet graceful caress of keys. As expected, shadows court this cast of emotive protagonists, bass and drums guiding their intervention as much as the sorrowful scent of voice and word.

Current single, Absinthe In Adelaide stirs air and spirit up again with its almost rapacious growl of voice and steely grooves whilst Loverman is a primal shuffle of blues courted rock ‘n’ roll; both tracks basking in the unique psych and classic rock imagination of keys and guitar. The second of the pair is especially irresistible; a heady, almost muggy trip into the dark psychedelic backwaters of mysterious deeds and lives. We have not really touched on the cinematic side of the album, each song tempting the imagination to conjure their own at times almost pagan-esque adventures to accompany the rich tales of the band with this proposition a prime example.

The album closes with Into The Blue, a groove entangled romp luring the listener into a salty tango of organ spun melodies and wonderfully niggly hooks, all driven by the ever compelling rhythmic persuasion of Thatcher and Rinaldo. It is an impossible to resist flirtation bringing the album to a riveting anthemic conclusion.

Some tracks shine over others within If The Devil Cast His Net, but from start to finish it feeds the spirit and ignites a hungry appetite for more; almost as if the Devil had a hand it.

If The Devil Cast His Net is released April 29^th through all platforms.