Nashville’s Great Affairs have released some really enjoyable material over the years. Just as importantly, with the help of line-up changes bringing different talents to the table, they’ve also grown as a band. Their second album ‘Ricky Took The Wheels’ paraded the band as fairly obsessed with The Black Crowes; ‘Happy Endings’ appeared to have a bigger interest in Americana; later works – largely due to second vocalist/drummer Kenny Wright’s arrival – introduced more grit, adding a Stones-ish/Faces colourant to the band’s musical palate. No matter what the musical mood, though, a Great Affairs release has guaranteed a selection of great songs. Even ‘Everybody Moves, Nobody Gets Hurt’ – an album released during a very troubled 2020, and capturing the band on autopilot in some ways – had its own charm.
Category Archives: Album & EP Reviews
SOVIET FILMS – Four EP
This EP from East Anglian noise-makers Soviet Films breaks a period of relative silence from the band. It might only feature a quartet of tunes – on the surface, a small amount of new music for a two year wait – but ‘Four’ presents a more epic sounding band, enjoying a more adventurous approach to arrangement than before, if indeed that were possible. The featured material represents everything fans could want, and music with the ability to unnerve new listeners in the best possible way.
KINGS CROWN – Closer To The Truth
The name Martin Kronlund will be familiar to many melodic rock fans. Between 2010 and 2015, the Swedish guitarist almost seemed omnipresent. Throughout that time, he was a member of Lover Under Cover, Salute and the reformed White Wolf. He was also a guest on the Ged Rylands all-star project Rage of Angels. In addition, he provided technical/production duties on albums by Departure, Ilium, M.ILL.ION, Saracen and Elevener. For a time it was hard to get away from the bugger.
CORNERS OF SANCTUARY – Taking Cover EP
Formed in 2011 with a desire to delve into the sounds of “classic heavy metal”, Philadelphia’s Corners of Sanctuary very much stick to tradition when it comes to their brand of rock. Like Aussie metallers LORD, CoS occupy a space where the big hair and the leather trouser reigns; a musical spectrum where solos are closer to Iron Maiden and Judas Priest than any more “modern” acts you’d care to name. For all of that, though, their sound is often impressive; a riff-heavy machine that’s not just a celebration of the past, but proof that classic metal lives on. By sticking to their guns in championing a very traditional approach, they’ve shared stages with Saxon, Blaze Bayley, and Anvil. And, somehow, they’ve also shared bills with Enuff Z’Nuff and – bizarrely – Green Jelly. Their strong held belief that metal will never die obviously works for them.
ELECTRIC SIX – Turquoise
It’s unbelievable to think that ‘Turquoise’ is Electric Six’s nineteenth studio album [or twentieth, if you count the ‘Streets of Gold’ covers collection, which the band don’t seem to, since it wasn’t even mentioned at the gigs played in the month of release, and nothing played from it], but Dick Valentine and his revolving cast of disco-rock oddballs have been cranking out albums year after year. Not that the record buying public or the press have always noticed. What’s more, the bulk of ‘Turquoise’ is great. It isn’t the sound of a veteran band phoning in their musical spoils. It isn’t hacked out product from a band all too readily dismissed as a cheap novelty. Yes, it’s trashy, but always in the best possible way.