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Review: Jack Foley
ROCK 'n' roll played at its fastest and most furious is what
you can expect from The Blueskins' ferocious debut album, Word
of Mouth, which excels in small doses, but becomes a little wearying
by journey's end.
The West Yorkshire outfit have been building a reputation for
themselves as out-and-out rockers with a number of noteworthy
EPs since they were formed two years ago.
But while the Zeppelin-flavoured throwbacks are excellent in
stand-alone form, there is a feeling that The Blueskins are a
little too one-note an outfit in long-player form.
Live, they are said to be brilliant, and one can imagine that
ears will be ringing, and heads will be throbbing, by the time
they complete any set.
But in album form, the unrelenting nature of the music becomes
a little nullifying, particularly late on.
Not that Word of Mouth is a bad album; far from it.
Drawing on influences such as Zeppelin, the Stones, the Buzzcocks
and even Jeff Healy, Ryan Spendlove and co have put together an
adrenaline-fuelled album of classic rock records, that shimmer
with intensity.
They're young, of course, and incredibly talented, so God only
knows what they will be like when they hone their sound and, perhaps,
reign themselves in a little.
For in tracks such as album opener, Bad Day, and the slide-guitar
heavy Change My Mind, there is real promise - not only
vocally, but musically too.
The fast and furious Stupid Ones is the sound of disaffected
youth at its most raw and honest, while harking back to the Seventies
rock-outs of, say T-Rex, while Ellie Meadows is a slightly
more refined effort that you could easily find yourself singing
along with.
The NME described The Blueskins' as 'the sound of a teenage Led
Zeppelin thrashing the arse out of 'Rock'n'Roll' in their parents'
leaky lean-to' and it's a fairly accurate description of what
to expect.
It's fast, it's furious and it'll have you breathless. But it
also burns out too soon and is purely for the hardened rock enthusiasts
only.
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