Reviews roundup – Mike Zito ~ Leaving Spirit ~ Arcana Kings ~ The Fulcrum ~ Holy Tide ~ Tweed
MIKE ZITO and Friends
Rock’n’Roll: A Tribute To Chuck Berry
Ruf
There is no doubt that this is a labour of love for Mike Zito. And it says a lot for the regard he is held in that he’s managed to bring in so many top notch blue artists to help him out.
Thing is, no-one sings Chuck Berry like Chuck Berry and as the arrangements don’t stray too far from the originals you can’t help but miss his patented sneer, although the spooky ‘Promised Land’ with some searing guitar from Tinsley Ellis is a real eye opener. That aside, though, this remains a rollicking romp through the best of rock’n’roll. Because I don’t care what you say, when it came to songwriting no-one came close to Chuck.
It’s good to hear the songs with such a warm production sound and how can you go wrong with guitar solos from the likes of Joe Bonamassa, Walter Trout, Eric Gales, Robben Ford, Sonny Landreth and more. Well you can’t. It works best when he moves away from the big hits so the likes of ‘I Want To Be Your Driver’, ‘Down Bound Train’ and ‘Thirty Days’ come across best. Not forgetting that Chuck oddity ‘Havana Moon’. And fear not, fans of all things wrong. This twenty track tribute closes with ‘My Ding A Ling’.
He may have been a bad, bad man in real life but the songs revisited here really were the bedrock of modern music.
LEAVING SPIRIT
Things Change
independent
An odd one this. See it’s being billed as Southern rock and I get that when the instrumental passages are filled out with lapsteel and dobro. None more Southern.
But the melodies are much more mainstream rock while the vocals of Paula Frecot are almost pop and there’s even a hint of psych. So it makes for an odd mix. But it is the debut album from German band Leaving Spirit so they’re still finding their feet a bit. They say all the right names in their bio – Blackberry Smoke, Whiskey Myers etc – so there is still time for them to alight on their sound. Strangely, for me, I actually prefer it when they slow things down a bit so the likes of ‘The Girl On The Train’ really bring out the country vibes.
The musicians are top notch although they’ve been through a lot of line-up changes since forming and it only seems to have been the vocals that were re-recorded after half the band upped and left. So we’ll need to see what impact that has on the band although the main songwriter is guitarist Florian Eppel and he’s still here. I enjoyed this once my ears adjusted, especially as the best songs are actually in the middle of the record, especially ‘Fake’ and ‘Moonshine’, where they actually do get their Southern sound on.
They’re not the finished article but fans of modern Southern rock should definitely give them a chance.
https://www.facebook.com/LeavingSpirit/
ARCANA KINGS
Lions As Ravens
Bad Reputation
Well this is a good one.
A proper hard rock band from Canada, they were previously known as the Johnny McQuaig Band, so I’m going to assume that he’s either the singer or guitarist or both. Or none. No lineup details you see. And I’m too old to be DuckGoGoing that sort of thing.
Oh, and they have bagpipes and close their album with a cover of the faux-Celtic sound of ‘Run Runaway’. Yes, the Slade one. So obviously it’s being released on a French record label. As you do.
These are the kinds of things that whet my whistle so it helps that they’re really good at the rawk. The opening tune isnae aw that but once ‘Friend Of Mine’ kicks in then the party really starts. As do the bagpipes. Then it’s probably their best known tune as ‘Here We Go’ is even used as a game opener for the Saskatchewan Roughriders. No, I don’t understand that sentence either.
They’ve got some great riffs but even when they slow it down a wee bit as they do on ‘Unbreakable’ and ‘Mother’ they’ve still got an undeniable power. This is rapidly becoming one of my favourite albums of the year so fingers crossed the world gets a chance to hear it. Altogether now “See chameleon, lying there in the sun, all things to everyone, run run away”. But not from this record.
THE FULCRUM
Spindled Mirrors
independent
Some modern rock from the USA.
To their credit they do throw in some left field arrangements to what might otherwise have been Foo Fighters B-sides. So there are a fair few modern prog rhythms in there as well as some post-stoner desert rock type moments.
The Fulcrum are Eric Bruno (guitar, vocals), Anthony Sussino (bass) and drummers Joe Santangelo with the former duo founding the band a couple of years back. Now I’m not being cruel but I’m guessing they’ve been writing and performing for a fair wee while as they certainly know they’re way around their instruments and the twists that they put into songs like ‘Specter’ definitely show that there is talent here.
It’s only a four song EP but probably best to introduce yourself with four good songs rather than try and fill out an album with less well thought out tunes. It’s a wee bit different and that’s always a welcome thing.
https://thefulcrum.bandcamp.com
HOLY TIDE
Aquila
My Kingdom Music
Italian symphonic power metal time. With some prog metal and a keyboard cameo from Don Airey (Rainbow/Deep Purple).
I’m still not sure if they’re a band or not as this began life as a project by bass player Joe Caputo. The main lineup here is vocalist Fabio Caldeira (Maestrick), drummer Michael Brush (Sirenia, Magic Kingdom), and guitarist Gustavo Scaranelo. If you’re looking for the shortcut comparison then the words you want are Luca, Turrili and Rhapsody.
Musically it’s what you would expect from the genre with those proggy moments I mentioned. Lyrically, I’m not sure. After all the album is titled the Latin for eagle. You know, the one that carried Jupiter’s thunderbolts. But the majority of the songs seem to be based on Biblical matters. To be fair, you’re not going to be short of ideas if you dip into the Book of Enoch. That’s the one that tells is about why angels fell from Heaven as well as the origins of demons amongst many things. It’s one of my favourites actually.
“And all shall be smitten with fear
And the Watchers shall quake,
And great fear and trembling shall seize them unto the ends of the earth.”
The band are all up to the task of bringing the complex music to life and on the best songs which include ‘The Age of Darkness’ and ‘Lamentation’ there is more than enough to recommend it to fans of the genre. The guitars are heavy, the arrangements complex and the words are interesting. It’s a winner.
https://www.facebook.com/holytideofficial
TWEED featuring Gervis Myles
Love Strong
independent
I was a fan of Tweed Funk. Their albums were always rollicking good fun.
But then, of course, 2017 saw the death of frontman Joseph “Smokey” Holman. They’ve now gathered themselves together, dropped the Funk out of respect, and got themselves a new singer in the shape of Gervis Myles.
And they’ve still got it if this set of nine originals and one cover is anything to go by. The cover being ‘Woman Don’t Lie’ by Luther ‘Snakeboy’ Johnson. Now even if they’ve dropped the funk from their name, their brand of the blues still has that undercurrent to it. Just listen to the bass line of ‘Dying’ Land’. Mr Myles is also a find as his voice is a perfect fit for the material on offer.
I’m a sucker for a Hammond organ so the songs where bass player Eric Madunic gets his honk on rank highly for me with ‘Walls’ and ‘Tweed Is Here’ scoring particularly highly. But it’s an album that doesn’t let you down anywhere and as a return from the Funk free Tweed it more than does the job.
https://tweedmusic.wixsite.com/home
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St Columba’s Hospice Tribute Fund for Linda Hamilton
http://linda.hamilton.muchloved.com/
The Rocker - The Artist Formerly Known As Zeitgeist. TAFKAZ 
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