Reviews roundup – Deep Purple vs. Quill vs. Push vs.Heartless Bastards vs. The Lucky Losers

Reviews roundup –  Deep Purple vs. Quill vs. Push vs.Heartless Bastards vs. The Lucky Losers

DEEP PURPLE
Collectors Edition: Rapture Of The Deep / Now What?! / Now What?! The Live Tapes
Edel

A pointless package in a cardboard box with the wrong tracklisting and some missing tuneage!  Well played, Edel.

Yes, don’t come here looking for the bonus tracks as advertised on the box and the digipack because they’re not there.  Which is a shame because the uniform digipacks look really nice on a shelf.  However, I’m guessing that whoever wants these records already has them.  And if they wanted the bonus tracks, well hard lines.

So, “Rapture…” doesn’t have the listed ‘MTV’, nor the two other bonus tracks that appeared on the tour edition.  At least “Now What?!” manages to fit in ‘It’ll Be Me’, although none of the Japanese bonuses are on offer.

It’s not even as if it’s out a bargain price, and with Deep Purple shows thin on the ground this side of the Atlantic, there’s unlikely to be a queue. Musically, the two studio albums saw Purple returning to a bit of form after a fallow twenty years or so, and the live album is a good listen, even if it has neither the Gold Edition bonus tracks or anything of the double disc version.

But, to reiterate, pointless.

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QUILL
Brush With The Moon
Mmps

Despite the fact that Quill have been on the go for aeons, it’s only since one time Move / ELO / Black Sabbath drummer Bev Bevan arrived that their name has started to appear in big letters.  Which is a shame, because they’re very good at what they do.

Seems that this release stems from the passing of founding member Ben Brain, late husband of singer Joy Strachan-Brain who, inspired by ELO’s Jeff Lynne using the demo recordings of John Lennon to create ‘Free As A Bird’” did the same with the demos recorded by Ben Brain prior to his passing.

And the songs which trot along in a folky / poppy / country rock / Celtic way are mostly enjoyable, melodic fare.  Which makes the guest appearance of Brian Tatler from Diamond Head all the more unusual.  They’re better at mid pace than they are when they try to speed along, something that makes ‘Hollywood Blues’ an absolute standout.

All the musicians are in sterling form, and with a few good songs on offer, such as ‘Poppy Fields’ and ‘Wedding Dress’, this should bring them a few new fans.

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PUSH
Friction
Flying Girl Records

This one confused me on first listening, as I whapped it in the CD deck without looking at the band picture or bio, and thought something really strange had happened to the UK melodic rockers, Push.

Having been excited by the non-existent reformation, I eventually twigged that this Push is an American band of the same name, who’re doing the whole modern rock thing.  You know, Foo Fighters rock instead of real rawk.  But I got over my disappointment and gave it another listen without prejudice.

And it’s OK.  They’re good musicians, as you would expect from a band who’ve been on the go for over a decade.  However, you just know when a band says “We refuse to be pigeonholed into any current trends”, that they’re going to sound an awful lot like every other modern rock band out there.

But they’ve got a handful of decent songs in there, with ‘Take Away’, ‘Flying Girl’ and ‘Run Thru the Fire’ deserving of a second listen.  So, if the whole post grunge, modern rock sounds of ten years ago float your boat, give it a go.  After all, they have the best web site address ever.  Google it!

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HEARTLESS BASTARDS
Restless Ones
Partisan Records

Ten years, five albums, one tune.  Yes, it’s the Heartless Bastards who, despite a great name and a good debut album (“Stairs and Elevators”), never really lived up to their early promise.

And although this is much better than 2012’s dull “Arrow” it still makes you go back to the debut and think “if only”.  It starts off in fine fettle with ‘Wind Up Bird’ and ‘Black Cloud’ as good as anything they’ve ever done.  But there is a lot of filler for a 10 track, forty minute album, so even though ‘Into The Light’ and ‘Eastern Wind’ get top marks as well, you’re left with a great EP and a so-so album.

Having said that, it is a better Heartless Bastards album than I expected, so I’ll keep my fingers crossed for early 2018, when the next one is due.

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THE LUCKY LOSERS
A Winning Hand
West Tone Records

In case you were wondering , The Lucky Losers are singers Cathy Lemons (from Dallas, Texas) and Phil Berkowitz (from San Francisco), with the latter also playing a mean moothie.

They’ve both got strong blues pedigrees going back many moons, but have teamed up to resurrect the lost art of the blues duet.  And they’re really good at it.  With Kid Anderson on guitar, a couple of excellent horn enhanced tunes and an abundance of sixties vibes about them, “A Winning Hand” is exactly that.

The songs themselves could easily have been performed by some of the greats of yore, with my current highlights encompassing ‘Baby You Got What It Takes’ (as done by Brook Benton & Dinah Washington), ‘Change In The Weather’ and a revisit to one of my favourite Sam & Dave tunes, ‘I Take What I Want’.

Top to bottom, this is a great play, and one that old school blues / soul crossover fans should buy immediately.

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