Together for only a year at the time of its release, ‘Tempers’ by UK alt-rockers Of Allies shows a strong sense of focus and of self-belief. The material doesn’t always show a great range of styles, but essentially this is a good thing – a sign of a band that know exactly what works for them, resulting in five numbers that include no unnecessary padding. Bringing much heaviness, their crunch oft balanced with an accessibility , the EPs opening track ‘Ghosts’ really makes a play for catching the ear as quickly as possible– and very much succeeds. From a clean intro comprising a couple of clean guitar chords and a soft, heart-rending vocal, the band quickly branch out into a somewhat rhythmic piece, led which drummer Danny Barrick, rattling off his snares with speed. This is intercut with a heavier chorus riff, the guitars adopting a dirty approach. While clearly comprised of three distinct parts, the bands strong feeling for melody gives everything a natural feeling of togetherness. It’s a tune that should appeal to fans of bands in the Chevelle mould – heaviness with a very tuneful undercurrent.
Category Archives: Album & EP Reviews
YES – Heaven & Earth
The first Yes studio album in a decade – 2011’s ‘Fly From Here’ – came under fire from various quarters. Since the core of the material first took shape in the early 80s, some (unfairly) lambasted the release for scraping the barrel for ideas, while others were less specific, wheeling out their beliefs that “no Jon Anderson = No Yes”. Neither short-sighted opinion held much water, since the album featured some of the best material the band had committed to record since the mid 90s, possibly even before. Benoit David did a great job vocalising both the new material and those ideas laid down by Trevor Horn and band some decades previously; Steve Howe sounded very comfortable in his role as guitarist – happy not to overplay his role (as he perhaps had done on some other Yes work) – while bandleader Chris Squire’s bass work appeared impeccable throughout. As with the often maligned ‘Drama’ of 1980 and the pop-oriented ‘90125’ from 1983, this more than showed that whatever the incarnation, there can be enjoyable results.
DREE PATERSON – A Louder Side Of Me EP
On this debut release, Dree Paterson displays a hugely polished talent and appears adept at a variety of musical styles. If we were to be cynical, we could view this as a “musical CV” since her chosen styles are so disparate on occasion. She seems more than content to deliver several musical ideas and see which sticks…almost to try and gauge which will be most commercially viable, as if she’s not bothered with which one she finds success – as long as someone with the right connections likes one of them, that’s a good start. Even the title of this show reel, ‘A Louder Side of Me’, sounds like some kind of exercise in public relations…
ROXIE 77 – The Ameriswede EP
Ryan Roxie has been an important figure on the hard rock/glam rock scene since the mid eighties. He first became a cult figure as a member of Candy, a power pop band he joined just before their demise and whose sole album – ‘Whatever Happened To Fun’ – was given a belated CD release in 2012 (stick with your vinyl though – the “remastered” CD sounds genuinely horrible). As Candy morphed into the underrated Electric Angels in 1990 he remained as guitarist, before forming the cheekily titled Dad’s Porno Mag – a Cheap Trick/Enuff Z’Nuff hybrid with some great tunes – nearer the end of the decade. A huge chunk of his work in the noughties and beyond has been devoted to his own bands Roxie 77 and Casablanca, as well as time spent with the Alice Cooper band. Following the release of Casablanca’s second album ‘Riding a Black Swan’ – a really solid hard rock affair – Roxie resurrected the long-rested Roxie 77 to record a single. The writing sessions were fruitful and what was intended as a single quickly became a six track EP. ‘Ameriswede’ is the result – and it’s a corker.
FIRE RED EMPRESS – Paint Me The Devil EP
This EP from hard rockers Fire Red Empress serves as a not just a taster of what’s over the horizon for the UK band, but also a timely reminder that if self-released material can sound this good, the days of the major labels calling the shots are seriously numbered. Decamping to Denmark and hiring Jacob Hansen for production/studio duties, the band clearly made the right choice – even before taking note of how good these three songs actually are, it is almost impossible not to be floored by the actual sound. Having previously produced Epica and Evergrey, Hansen clearly knows the best way to get a big sound out of his clients. This is no exception – hard, loud and seriously well-rounded, it’s just perfect for the brand of hard rock on show.