Godsticks - This Is What A Winner Looks Likes (Kscope) [Matt Bladen]
With their excellent last record Inescapable delivered in 2020, the pandemic era had a different effect on Godsticks founder Darran Charles than it did on a lot of bands, he was at a creative low when it came to making new music, not even thinking about a new record until late 2021 when they were able to perform live again.
This is what makes Godsticks a band that are different to many of their prog contemporary's, they thrive in the live scene, thei music is written to be performed not for long form double LP vinyl with intricate changes and long instrumental sections. Having been more focussed and to the point than many others, the South Wales band are no slouches when it comes to technicality, their music more towards that of The Pineapple Their, Riverside, Leprous or Tool, the rhythmic power of Eliminate And Repeat, giving you a deep set furrow for the melodies to grow on top of.
With the productivity brought back, they started to experiment with electronics on Silent Saw and the pulsating Don't Say A Word To Me. They also continued to make use of the collaborative working style they started on the last record. This Is What A Winner Looks Like has numerous musical and lyrical inspirations from the dissonance of life to the Chartist Rebellion of 4th November at 1839 at The Westgate Hotel Newport. The latter features on the impressive title track which was written by Darran Charles with a drum pattern to physically harm the drummer Tom (sadist much?).
This sixth album from this talented band was recorded at Rockfield Studios so it's organic and natural sounding, these songs ooze with talent and skill, the grooving bottom ends, anchoring some very heavy riffs on tracks such as Mayhem before evolving into melodic lead guitars and solos. Charles' excellent vocals too having the sound of Cornell to them (which I've probably mentioned before). Another top shelf release from Godsticks who continue to be one of the most inventive, musically dense bands in South Wales. 9/10
Sweat - Who Do They Think They Are? (Tee Pee Records) [David Karpel]
Swiss-American Sue Pedrazzi (vocalist/organist) relocated to Pittsburgh from Basel and subsequently partnered with Richard Stanley (Rich the Band), Dan Hernandez (Limousine Beach [!!!], Cruces) and Kayla Schureman (Century III) to form Sweat. And we’re all the better for it because theirs are the vintage era songs we didn’t know we were missing. Pedrazzi’s vocals fall somewhere between Heart’s Wilson sisters and Quarterflash’s Rindy Ross – sweet, soulful, and weighted with emotive power. Musically, the band fuses 70s organ driven rock, the anthemic yawp of The Who, a dollop of folksy bildungsroman, a disco ball, shag carpets, swirls of matte brown, orange, green, and yellow on the walls, and a few lava lamps and dark secrets too.
The minute long Lament starts sweet with a melodic guitar picking, soft toms, and harmonies until Pedrazzi comes in narrating the pains of a 19 year old “trapped in herself and her fever dreams,” remembering, envying her friends running in the night. Emotions swell with the toms right into the next cut, Errors, which kicks off with time on the high-hat and the organ finding a riff. Guitars strum in with Townshend arm swings and the rhythm picks up.
The first single, Jane, maintains The Who crunch, mid-tempo rhythms, and features Pedrazzi’s vocal prowess ever more so. The album is full of gems like this, driven, earnest, “born with a rifle in her hands.” Listen closely to Ice-Cream Man and what at first sounds like an exercise in pure schmaltz is actually a pretty dark song about an unrequited crush. Paradise hits like Errors and Jane with catchy melodies and driving chords while the verses acknowledge the growth that comes from realizing “who needs paradise when feeling alive is enough.”
Who Do They Think They Are? is such a gift and a wonderful surprise. Deceptively light and airy, the songs go deep into the trials, tribulations, and travails of the formative years familiar to most of us. The music recalls a treasured era of creativity in songwriting, and in their revisiting the band refreshes the potential for these styles to continue to move us – physically and emotionally. Sensitive to pop structures and song lengths, songs still manage to feel epic in scope. And yet, when the album was done, I felt bereft. I needed more, and so I started it again. I have a feeling that will happen quite a bit this summer. 10/10
JAAW - Supercluster (Svart Records) [Rich Piva]
JAAW is Andy Cairns from Therapy? reliving the very, very early days when the band teetered on being a straight up industrial menace, which is how I was introduced to them with the Caucasian Psychosis CD I mentioned in my Therapy? review for their excellent new album. JAAW is Andy with some guys from other like minded heavy bands getting their Godflesh on and making so heavy, dissonant industrial noise rock, and doing it very well. This is not an easy listen, and it is not supposed to be. Supercluster reminds me of songs found on the legendary Chicago industrial label Wax Trax’s box set (the less dance forward tracks) that I wore out in the late 90s of their late 80s and early 90s output.
Phlebotomized - Clouds Of Confusion (Hammerheart Records) [Mark Young]
Netherlands veterans return with Clouds Of Confusion, their latest collection of progressive death metal. It promises to be both melodic and brutal, which can sometimes be a hinderance depending on how balanced the attack is.
Fans should not be disappointed here as they certainly succeed in providing an album’s worth of music that is balanced, neither leaning too far in one direction. When its melodic, it is subtle and there is a sense that they don’t want to overuse those ideas. When they ramp up the brutality, for example on Desolate Wasteland changes that approach slightly, with a slightly lower end riffy motif going on, guitars and keys now offering their melodic parts together that runs straight into (short song) Destined To Be Killed which starts at a rate of knots, up-tempo and in your face.
Bury My Heart (Reprise) is another highlight for me, as it spends the first half with an instrumental battering and if anything, adding death vocals to it may have taken something away from it. No matter, as they drop a mental solo in there which is short but very sweet.
Musically, it is an impressive collection of songs from a band that are no strangers to providing emotionally driven and progressive sounds. The use of harmony in their guitars in brilliant as well as the metal riffs which as I’ve said are razor sharp. Its sounds great, contains some excellent arrangements that fans of this part of the metal tree will lose their minds over. Also, they manage to avoid repeating themselves which is massive for me as it keeps me engaged.
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