Reviews roundup – Mishka Shubaly vs. Chase The Ace

Reviews roundup – Mishka Shubaly vs. Chase The Ace

MISHKA SHUBALY
Cowards Path
Invisible Hand

God, I hate an alcoholic who makes good.  Can’t they have the common decency to sober up, realise that it wasn’t alcohol that was the problem, but rather their own personality defects, then spend the rest of their lives ruminating on their failure as a human being.  But enough about me, because here comes former jakey Mishka Shubaly with his third full-length album, “Coward’s Path”.  It’s a document of his lost years, although they don’t seem to have lasted very long, considering his 2007 release, “How To Make A Bad Situation Worse” was followed by a tour with comedian Doug Stanhope.  Somehow between then and 2009, he lost a series of jobs, bands, friends, and girlfriends before sobering up.  Boo fucking hoo.  Try two and a half decades of alcoholism, and then tell me a sob story.

As someone with an MFA from Columbia University, he had some high powered friends, and didn’t have to go a cold church hall in Leith.  instead he published six best-selling Kindle Singles, a collection of the singles with the foreword by Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, gotten his name on the front page of the New York Times, and landed a book deal. Musically, he’s a bit like a Tom Waits busker with some sketchy almost folk tunes and lyrics straight out of the Big Book of Beatnik clichés.  There are twelve of them with head up the arse titles like ‘New Jersey Valentine’s Day Orphan Blues’, ‘Depravity’s Rainbow’ and ‘Your Plus One At My Funeral’.  On the plus side, the vinyl looks really nice.

People who like to talk about themselves but have nothing of interest to say will enjoy this.

http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/mishkashubaly22

CHASE THE ACE
Are You Ready
Z Records

Or to quote Acca Dacca in full.  “Are You Ready For A Good Time?”  Thank God for Chase The Ace, the Israeli sleaze rockers who have come along to wash the bitter taste of Mishka Shubaly from my mouth.

It’s doesn’t seem that long since their “Rock Bottom Rock ‘n’ Roll” EP, and all five tracks from that release make another appearance here.  But there are ten new tracks to whet your appetite for all things rock and roll.  Chase The Ace would have been a very popular support act back in the eighties.  More Britny Fox than Motley Crue. But they’re having such a good time, it’s almost impossible to resist.

Roi Vito Peleg has all the vocal nuances you would expect from a proper hair metal band, and as they rattle through the aforementioned ‘Rock Bottom Rock ‘n’ Roll’, the title track and ‘Raise Your Glass’, you know that there is nuthin’ like a good time.  For sure, there are too many ballads (ie more than one), with only the Cinderella-esque ‘Bring You Back’ worthy of a black and white video and a wind machine.  That aside, this is a cracker.

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