In terms of their very limited studio output, Flash were, and remain, one of the most overlooked bands of the early 70s. Despite featuring two ex-members of Yes – Peter Banks (guitar) and Tony Kaye (keyboards) – their work isn’t often mentioned with the revered tones it so deserves. Their first two albums (‘Flash’ and ‘In The Can’) are home to some brilliant sounds, mixing elements of blues and prog with bits of hard rock. Although sometimes less fussy than the band Banks and Kaye left behind, Flash’s work is no less grand. At their best, they could fuse jazz rock elements with ethereal vocals (‘There No More’), or hit upon a great 70s rock groove and pepper that with obvious Yes-like flourishes (‘Children of The Universe’). Their work could occasionally be derivative of Yes; their albums sometimes felt like cobbled together collections rather than truly cohesive works, but Flash were never dull.
Category Archives: Album & EP Reviews
TABOO – Taboo
When it comes to hard rock, the Scandinavians have always had a really good ear for a melody and chorus. Throughout the 90s when melodic rock and AOR was hugely unfashionable, the Swedes’ knack for delivering classic, big haired sounds continued unabated, and in metal terms, twenty first century heavy hitters like In Flames and Opeth have more than shown how once extreme subgenres can often benefit from a finely tuned melodic streak. What’s more, they’ve achieved this with so much more style than their US counterparts.
The same can be said for Danish band Taboo. A new arrival on the rock scene for 2022, but featuring a couple of old faces, the musical project teams H.E.R.O vocalist Christoffer Stjerne and Pretty Maids guitarist Ken Hammer, with the intent to do something a little different from their day jobs. Their debut album proudly boasts the kind of huge chorus hooks you’ve come to know from Pretty Maids, but trades in some of their big haired, 80s cheese and bombast for something not only with a bigger crunch in places, but also a slight electronica twist.
BLACK RUSSIANS – Communist Dudes
At the end of 2020, Black Russians issued a selection of new tracks as part of a split with US horror punks, The Jasons. The “Soviet Punk Rock” band might not have been the bigger name, but their material ran rings around the American act, showing a musical tightness and a humour that fit their chosen genre perfectly. A couple of years down the line, their full length ‘Communist Dudes’ makes good on the promise of those earlier tracks, delivering thirteen Ramones influenced bangers, dealing with topics such as satanism, communism, and an iron curtain winter. Armed with massive riffs and played with tongues firmly in cheek, aside from an obviously DIY production sound, it’s almost everything genre fans could hope for.
DRAAGYN – Bent Rib EP
This three track release from Draagyn isn’t shy in taking gothic infused metal into some interesting places. There are musical elements that are very recognisable from her 2019 digital single ‘Majesty’ (namely, bursts of classic sounding black metal) and the tech/prog metal riffs from 2020’s ‘A Night Between Two Days’ still maintain a strong presence, but there’s also a desire to throw in a few more commercial riffs and contrast those with something even more extreme at times. It’s fair to say that the composer’s hand now seems much stronger. It isn’t necessarily a question of confidence, but rather more a greater acceptance of creative freedom; of knowing when to cast aside any perceived boundaries and when to pull back, and throughout ‘Bent Rib’, Draagyn uses that to her advantage, even though it sometimes results in sounds that are challenging.
ROY SHAKKED – Throwback
Roy Shakked’s ‘Know Nothing’ EP (released in 2018) provided a superb look into his idiosyncratic and varied writing styles. By pulling influence from Eels, Jack White and Paolo Nutini, it covered a broad musical range, but still sounded like the work of a man with his own set of talents. He then threw a massive curveball by releasing an album’s worth of waltzes (fittingly titled ‘Waltzes’) which blended some low key pop with piano pieces, and bits that sounded as if they were written with soundtracks in mind. For the more patient listener, it was an album that offered a few cherry-pickable treats, but it suggested that Shakked always made music for the love of the creative process rather than chasing easy fame.