About 20 seconds into “Where The Crows Fly”, a riff that is pure 90s rock hits. I’ve been listening to a lot of that stuff recently (news of a US tour involving Stone Temple Pilots and Live might have had something to do with it).
This thing, though. Thick as molasses yet dripping with melody, it’s a belter. It acts as the starting gun, if you like for “Up In Smoke” and by the time the lead solo has hit, you can’t resist it.
Indeed, back about ten years ago Stone Angels were exactly the sort of thing that made me start MV in the first place. The type of “Whiskey soaked” rockers (their words back then) that I loved then and loved now. They released “Give In To Temptation” first back in 2014 – it was superb.
Now they’re back with “Up In Smoke”, nine songs that they are planning to drip out one a month throughout the year digitally, or you can forget that and buy the thing now. In fact, do it, it’s worth it.
It’s nine tracks with a back story too, as guitarist James Innes (he of the wonderful riffs and solos explains: “November 7 2019 at approximately midday, a fire broke out in my house while I was inside. The trauma of watching my home, my safe space be destroyed by the blaze sent me into a depressive spiral, especially as the pandemic quickly followed.”
So, how do I get out of this and use my review as normal to mention the bands I like and whatever random thoughts come into my head? This is too serious, right?
Well yeah, but this is rock n roll and I love it, so let’s go. “Gambler” (drummer Loz apparently is a pro) has already been out. Thunderous energy and a groove so big it’s like a wrecking ball.
Look, “….Smoke” is an absolute gem of a record. It’s got everything, “stoner” riffs, if you want, the opportunity for me to think about Corrosion Of Conformity even more than I normally do, “Hold On” allows that, but even better, the title track addresses the fire head on. A process that must’ve been cathartic, but painful.
It’s one of a couple of slower ones in a row. There’s a bit of grandiosity about “Halfway To Nowhere” – think The Screaming Trees playing “Kashmir” and you’re somewhere close, but the idea that this is as unashamed a good time rocker that there is, is never too far away from work like “Over The Edge”, either.
Broadly speaking, though, this is a more mature record than “…Temptation” was. Hell, it’s a decade where a lot has happened, right? And the string laden ballad “The Ghost Of New York” seems to be particularly personal. As if it’s a ghost that was never truly laid to rest.
So for every fists in the air rocker like “Supercharged” – which is the most recently released track – where they party with the thought “roll out the good times cos they’re the ones I like” in a very Bad Touch type way, there’s a “Western Dreams” which surveys the post-Brexit, post-Truth era and doesn’t like it much.
I guess that’s the tightrope of 2024, as much as it’s the tightrope of this record.
“Up In Smoke” comes from a place of real pain. That it sounds so up for the fight is the power of music in under 40 minutes. It’s a brilliant collection. It needs listening to as intended, from beginning to end. Buy it. You won’t regret it.
Rating 9/10
