Reviews roundup – Seventh Sin vs. vs. Asleep At The Wheel vs. Rockstars On Mars vs. Bella Hardy vs. Dan Walsh

Reviews roundup – Seventh Sin vs. vs. Asleep At The Wheel vs. Rockstars On Mars vs. Bella Hardy vs. Dan Walsh

 
SEVENTH SIN
When Reality Ends
Seventh Sin

We’re kicking off today with some female fronted Dutch symphonic metal, courtesy of Seventh Sin, who’ve been building their profile of late, with an Edenbridge support slot. And they’re pretty good.

Of course, it’s a crowded market, but with Monique Joosten a fine vocalist, and with some good songs, this is a good start to their recording career. To be fair, I could do without the Lacuna Coil style growls from guitarist Roy, but I understand how they’re part of the template.

But they have a good guitar sound, and when the songs live up to the performance, as they do on the likes of ‘Like A Blazing Flame’ and ‘Wings Of Despair’, then you get the sense that they could become a name. They even give good ballad on ‘Just An Ordinary Day’, which highlights the songwriting ability.

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ASLEEP AT THE WHEEL
Still The King: Celebrating The Music Of Bob Wills
Bismeaux

Odd, I thought the whole point of Asleep At The Wheel, over their hundred year career, was celebrating the music of Bob Wills? After all, as the leading proponents of Western swing over the last few decades, they have kept the flag flying for that particular style of music.

But they’re back with a sequel to their last official tribute, “Ride With Bob”, itself a follow-up to “A Tribute to the Music of Bob Wills” and it’s business as usual. Now, I love this style of music, and have more than my fair share of Asleep At The Wheel records, so you won’t be surprised to learn that I think this is an absolute peach.

And they’ve pulled in some pretty big names here, with the likes of Merle Haggard, George Strait, Brad Paisley, Old Crow Medicine Show and many others popping along for a play. It’s pretty much faultless as they cruise through classics such as ‘I Can’t Give You Anything But Love’, ‘Faded Love’, ‘A Good Man Is Hard To Find’ and my long time favourite ‘Ding Dong Daddy From Dumas’.

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ROCKSTARS ON MARS
Rockstars On Mars EP
Dirty Slut

Blimey! It’s London LeGrand. The barber who ended up singing with Brides Of Destruction, alongside Motley Crue’s Nikki Sixx and L.A. Guns’ Tracii Guns. That didn’t go well, and LeGrand ended up with Dokken guitarist George Lynch in Souls of We. That didn’t go well, and now, of all places, he’s turned up in a Swedish sleaze band called Rockstars On Mars! As you do.

And know what? This is pretty good. This is their first official release, and it contains five tracks from their demo, alongside three new tracks. Now, as someone who was their the first time around, I can happily raise my head above the parapet, and say that this stands proud alongside a lot of the original eighties sleaze rock acts. If you have fond memories of Faster Pussycat before Taime Downe turned into Gary Numan, then this will be right up your street.

‘Tequila N’ Gin’ and ‘2 Kool For Skool’ are an absolute blast, and even when they take a sideways step on the likes of ‘Bleeding Heart’ they still pull it off. Moving to Sweden was probably a very good move, as it seems to be where the best sleaze acts reside these days, and if you’d written LeGrand off, then it’s time to take another listen.

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BELLA HARDY
With The Dawn
Noe Records

This is Bella Hardy’s seventh solo album, and her first since being named BBC Radio 2 Folk Singer Of The Year in 2014. Oddly enough, I’ve managed to miss out on most of her career to date, but I’m delighted to put that to rights with this offering.

Now I’m more of a trad folk man, so the modern edge that Ms Hardy brings to her music isn’t usually my cup of tea, but there is no arguing with the quality of the songs on offer here. It helps that she has a very distinctive voice, and when she lets it run its full range as it does on ‘You Don’t Have To Change (But You Have To Choose)’ and ‘Oh! My God! I Miss You’, then it’s certainly something to hear and appreciate.

The musicians she’s brought to bear alongside her own fiddling all do a bang up job, with an array of banjo players and a smattering of horns hither and thither adding to the excellent arrangements. It’s an excellent album, with ‘Jolly Good Luck To The Girl That Loves A Soldier’, which was originally commissioned by Songs For The Voiceless, a project which gathered the country’s best folk artists to sing some of the lesser known stories of World War I, one of the best things I’ve heard all year.

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DAN WALSH
Incidents & Accidents
Rooksmere

We’re finishing the day off with some more folk music. And if you’re a fan of the banjo (and you should be), then this could be your new favourite thing.

Yes, Mr Walsh is a banjo picker. So don’t be put off by the Paul Simon referencing title, and instead prepare to be amazed at the breadth of skill he brings to his music. Now, most people nowadays will associate the banjo with bluegrass. People of my age will think fondly of the Black & White Minstrels. But for the sake of propriety he’s steered clear of the latter, and only indulges briefly in the former.

The likes of ‘Time To Stay’ are what you would expect to hear, but once he heads off into ‘Lost Rambler’, an arrangement of a traditional Finnish tune, then you quickly realise that he can pretty much turn his hand to anything, something confirmed by the remarkable ‘Whiplash Reel’. The wandering Scotchman in me made ‘The Tune Set’ a reel (hah!) treat, but Walsh, along with the sympathetic Patsy Reid (fiddle), Nic Zuppardi (mandolin), Mark Hutchinson (percussion/vocals) and Meaghan Blanchard (vocals), makes this is a record you can drop the needle on anywhere, for a good time.

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