Reviews roundup – Status Quo vs. Small Leaks Sinks Ships vs. Years Apart vs. The Damned And Dirty vs. The Hawthorne Effect

Reviews roundup – Status Quo vs. Small Leaks Sinks Ships vs. Years Apart vs. The Damned And Dirty vs. The Hawthorne Effect

STATUS QUO
Aquostic: Live @ The Roundhouse
Earmusic

Those of you who know their way around the BBC red button will already be familiar with this show, as it was screened at the end of last year.  And now here it is on a 2CD / DVD release.  Which makes sense seeing as how the BBC were already there.  And the Quo have to pay for the extra eleven people who were on stage somehow.

Now it just so happens I’m a card carrying member of FTMO, but I like to think I can be open minded about their releases.  And to be honest, if you already have the studio CD, then you’re not going to hear anything new here.  Although there is some bonus material on the DVD and Blu-ray formats.  However, the Quo are taking the show on the road for half a dozen dates starting next week, so I’m pretty sure the Quo Army will be snapping this up.

For your money you’re getting the best part of 25 tunes from across their near 100 year old back catalogue.  If you didn’t buy the studio versions or see the show, then there are a few surprises as they drastically overhaul songs like ‘Again and Again’ (officially the best song ever), ‘Rollin’ Home’, ‘Rock ‘n’ Roll’ and ‘Rock ‘til You Drop’.  Some of the other versions will be more familiar, but it was an interesting concept the first time around, and it remains so here.

Fair play to them for trying something new this late in the game, and for me it was well worth it.

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SMALL LEAKS SINK SHIPS
Face Yourself And Remove Your Sandals
101

Indie emo time now, with the appallingly named Small Leaks Sink Ships.  Apparently the Portland, Oregon band have been at this for a long time now, but as there’s is a world I studiously avoid, this is my first encounter with them.

It’s the sort of thing that college students will love, as they strive for a post-rock meaningfulness, wrestling with the human condition.  So there are no hobo humpin’ slobo babe type lyrics here, as they angstfully address the troubles of the world through a series of emotionally draining tunes.  I’ll leave you to decide whether that’s a good thing or not.

They do know how to write songs, mind, as ‘Power Outage’, ‘Orchid’ and ‘We All Die’ demonstrate. In fact ‘Orchid’ has got X Factor winners single written all over it.  One for people not as shallow as me.

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YEARS APART
Break The Chains
independent

Sadly not a blow by blow recreation of the Dokken album “Breaking The Chains”, instead this sees Plattekill, NY band Years Apart forging their own way with some post grunge modern rock.

Now, hang on, that’s not always a bad thing, because Years Apart aren’t unfamiliar with the concept of a song.  In fact, they’ve got at least three really good ones in amongst the (Hed)Pe B-sides.  So you’ll want to take a listen to the likes of ‘One More Day’, ‘Life’s Passing Me By’ and ‘Revenge’, where they manage to get the combination of power, performance and melody just about spot on.

This is only their second album, although 3 of the 4 members seem well seasoned, if their photo is anything to go by.  But it certainly shows enough to suggest that there is more and better to come from them.

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THE DAMNED AND DIRTY
Rolling Into Town
Fuck Yeah! Records

Damn right I’ve got the blues!  And this is how I like it with some slide guitar drenched delta blues all the way from, um, Holland.  Yes, Holland.

Granted, there is no need for the potty mouthed approach they take, but the Dutch duo do know how to make a splendid noise.  Kevin de Harde (lead vocals, harmonica) and Micha Sprenger (guitars/vocals/bass) are augmented by Bram Slinger (organ), Frank van Tijn (drums) and Nienke van den Nieuwendijk (cowbell, oh yes), and even if this is a few songs too long, I can well understand why they won the Dutch Blues Award for Best Album of 2012 with their debut and the same award for 2013 for the follow up.

It’s all self penned and you won’t go wrong on songs like ‘The Meanest Woman’, ‘The Devil Again’, ‘Bad Liquor and Wine’ and ‘My Baby’ll Make It Right’.  A cracker of an album that fans of low down and dirty blues should be checking out immediately.

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THE HAWTHORNE EFFECT
Awakefulsleep
independent

Bang!  Did someone hit me on the head, put me in a time machine and send me back to my teenage years?  Because that’s what seems to have happened with this album from The Hawthorne Effect.

Because this is eighties styled hard rock, the like of which soundtracked my youth.  There’s hard rock, there’s harder rock and there are power ballads.  As it should be. The whole thing seems drenched in the vibes of Messrs Bachman, Turner and Overdrive, with some Stones licks and an array of hand claps.  All of which is more than alright with me.  For sure, they haven’t written an actual classic song yet, but this is their debut album.

You’ll want to have a listen to ‘All Wars Start This Way’, ‘Devil Don’t Care’, ‘Drunk Mistake’ and the best of the ballads, ‘Anything’.  Then you can make your own mind up.  The band members are all excellent musicians with a history in other Chicago rock bands, so know their way around their instruments, and this gets filed away under “interesting”.  Now, someone turn the lights off.

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