Category Archives: Album & EP Reviews

VARIOUS ARTISTS – Kimono My House: 50 Years Later

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From the label that brought you 50th Anniversary tribute albums covering Alice Cooper’s classic ‘Killer’, Bowie’s absolutely legendary ‘Ziggy Stardust’, and Budgie’s oft-overlooked ‘Never Turn Your Back On A Friend’, comes something way more…outlandish. Bringing together various acts from the rock and metal underground, ‘Kimono My House: 50 Years Later’ re-imagines the 1974 Sparks album. As you might expect, the results are mixed. As you’ve probably already guessed, very few of the bands have been brave (or should that be foolhardy?) enough to imitate Russ Mael’s legendary falsetto. It remains unclear whether any of the musicians have taken the method route and grown toothbrush moustaches to enhance their involvement. What we have here – somewhat against the odds – is a very interesting record.

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ACCEPT – Humanoid

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In many ways, you have to hand it to Accept. In the metaphorical race for the German hard rock and metal prize, they’ve spent literally a whole career in the shadow of Scorpions. Outside of their home country, they’re rarely name checked as an all-time favourite band, and they’ve constantly trucked on, often biting a collective thumb at the fickle finger of musical fashion. They’ve gone through many line up changes, but they’ve survived when many have fallen. What’s more, as late as 2021, they managed to deliver a career highlight with ‘Too Mean To Die’, a hulking mass of riffs that married their love of 80s metal with a really solid sounding production job. In terms of “late career” albums, it was a genuine winner. You can love them, you can hate them – but you can’t keep Accept down. When on form, they mean business.

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WARHORSE – Warhorse

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Between 1967 and 1969, the original Deep Purple released a trio of excellent albums. Those records mixed elements of 60s pop with rock guitar, experimented with psychedelia, and even explored avenues of orchestral rock. The huge proto-metal work of the band’s next incarnation – makers of the classics ‘Black Night’, ‘Smoke On The Water’ and ‘Highway Star’ – has long overshadowed the earlier Purple outings, but tracks like ‘Shield’ and ‘Chasing Shadows’ provided a massive showcase for Ritchie Blackmore’s distinctive guitar work and things to come, whilst the epic ‘April’ proved this was a band with bigger ideas than most, and their ability for making other peoples’ material their own was almost as impressive.

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HATS OFF GENTLEMEN IT’S ADEQUATE – One Word That Means The World (Arkhipov) / Music For Dancing

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When approaching a fusion based style, London’s Hats Off Gentlemen It’s Adequate are rarely anything less than interesting. Since their inception, the musical duo have painted an art rock canvas that’s blended prog, pop, funk and ambient textures in a way that – for the want of an easy descriptor – sometimes makes them sound like The Pineapple Thief jamming with the rhythm section of early 80s King Crimson. At other times, you might stumble upon the atmospheres of later Talk Talk, or swathes of guitar work tipping their more than adequate hat in the direction of ‘In Absentia’ era Porcupine Tree, but almost always with the Gentlemen’s own, slightly odd, twist. Simply put, you can rely on them to tease your ears with something pleasingly complex.

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THE KILOGRAMS – The Kilograms EP

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Bringing together the talents of The Mighty Mighty Bosstones’ Joe Gittleman (The Bass Fiddleman), Bouncing Souls man Michael McDermott, Secret Six’s J. Duckworth and Sammy Kay, The Kilograms is a supergroup of sorts. However, listeners shouldn’t necessarily expect this band to merely recycle the high octane punk and ska associated with their day jobs. Granted, you’ll find some familiar musical touchstones, but The Kilograms is very different beast.

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