THE MAKERS OUT – BLOODLINES/HOPE
Look, I’ll be honest, this phrase in the artist bio, that you get sent with the album “I, through my own practice, do not write songs regularly, but wait for them to write themselves through me,” would be the sort of thing that had me running to the hills normally, but The Makers Out is too good for that.
Leader Scott Bell – you name it, when it comes to music, he’s done it – has crafted something truly original. Opener “Holy Water” – one minute full on Americana, the next trippy psychedelics – is your signpost to something gentle and beguiling, as “Golden Driller” underlines again.
Occasionally, like on “Hallelujah” something more strident breaks out, but mostly, its joy and beauty comes from the likes of “Stillborn”, which seems to float out into the Tulsa sky.
Sometimes this can feel like a proggy journey too. Not least on the title track, which goes to places this music seldom does, and if you wanted that underlined one last time then the glorious “Five Hundred Million Pounds of Memory” – a nine-minute epic – is a neat and fitting conclusion to a record that I am not certain you will ever fully appreciate. That is to say, you can probably listen to “Bloodlines/Hope” 50 times and hear 50 different things. Whatever, just listen to it.
Rating 8.5/10
DORIAN SORRIAUX – CHILDREN OF THE MOON
Best known as the former guitarist in Blues Pills, Dorian Sorriaux is now focussed on this, his solo project, and in reality is a very different beast.
The title alone evokes thoughts of psychedelics and the music – gentle and folky – is infused with something otherworldly and trippy.
The way the strings of the title track float is a clue, while there’s perhaps a real feeling in the darker, blues-tinged “Believe You Can Change”. And if the former job always had a mystical side to them, then it’s never been quite like “Need To Love”, which manages to evoke the likes of Jeff Buckley as it unfurls.
The acoustic strapped to his back on the cover gives a clue to the fact he’s a troubadour at heart, and that runs deep on “Shine So Bright” but it’s an original take as “In The End” proves.
And he’s very good at this too. “Sunken Ship” might be one of the more traditional-sounding folk ones on the album, but the way he delivers it suggests that Dorian Sorriaux is finally doing what he needed to. Good luck to him for that.
Rating 8/10
HOCKEY DAD – REBUILD REPEAT
Four years after their last one, Windang, Australia (the best town name in years) band have re-emerged with this, and it is well-titled.
Offering something new, but still sounding like Hockey Dad should, the first single “Base Camp” out Weezer’s Weezer, but with an anthemic indie chorus.
That’s what they do, they are overtly pop on occasion, like on “Still Have Room”, and at others, you can imagine Stereophonics doing “Safety Pin” and going gold when they did.
Punk-length songs, but not punk. Instead “Burning Sand” has the same mellifluous feel as the Wannadies in the 90’s – that vibe is on “That’s On You” too, and “Seething” sounds anything but.
The longest one here, “Road Signs” (still under four minutes, it is not exactly prog) builds with a real class, but the last one, the piano-tinged “Dancing On The Other Hand” is the mark of a band that is ever growing and evolving.
Multi-award winning, gold and platinum discs all over the place back home, they are over here with Ocean Valley in the autumn, and it is more evidence that what began as a hobby a decade ago, has evolved into something way, way more. Although, as “Rebuild Repeat” proves, the fun is still there.
Rating 7.5/10
ONLAP -WAVES
I don’t know how major tours work – you suspect that money has plenty to do with it – but the other week Nickelback were around the UK with an indie band, Foo Fighters are doing much the same.
Yet over in France, Onlap are essentially ready for the chance to hit that wider modern rock audience. “Fever” is a hell of an opening statement, bursting with energy, “Hypnotised” slows the pace, but it’s ready for arenas.
Things get a bit Linkin Park when Landsdowne join for “Ghosts” and they have a class all the way through their stuff, like “Never Too Late”. If that’s a ballad, then “Nevermind” is much heavier, almost getting into In Flames territory.
“I am ready” they sing on “Ready For War” and it is hard to disagree. “Waves” is primed for a big splash, given the chance.
Rating 7.5/10
96 BITTER BEINGS – RETURN TO HELLVIEW
Sometimes the answer to the question “Why?” is “Why not?” There’s a bit of that here when Deron Miller has decided to use his new vehicle to cover some of his old one.
What that means in practice is 96 Bitter Beings have redone nine CKY songs, and whatever the point is, it sounds pretty cool.
“Flesh Into Gear” and “Shock And Terror” are superb songs, and whilst there’s nothing much radical going on, then its fun.
“Suddenly Tragic” and the likes are the type of songs that you forget how good they were, and the heavier stuff, “The Way You Lived” for one, benefits from being redone.
And to be fair, as the groove of “Shippensburg” hits, then you can sort of forget the idea of why and just enjoy it for what it is.
Rating 8/10
