“Dreaming isn’t a sin.” That’s what Those Damn Crows sing on “No Surrender” here.
Keep that in mind.
MV has been around a long time – and I hate clichés. But there are a few you use even without meaning to. I’ll be honest, dear reader, I know that all the bands I’ve described as arena ready on the site aren’t going to get there.
There are a few, though, and one of them was Those Damn Crows.
It was nine years ago that a band from Bridgend sent me their debut album themselves for review, and it’s nine years since I wrote this:
“That doesn’t mean you can’t dream of playing Wembley… Those Damn Crows are arena rock in waiting.”
So it was quite something to watch them lay waste to Wembley Arena last year, opening for ZZ Top. They deserved it. They’re a wonderful band.
Thing is, now they’re in the big leagues, they need an album to match – not that the previous one, “Inhale/Exhale,” did badly. It crashed in at number three in the charts and got them on the main stage at Download.
“God Shaped Hole,” though, is a level up. In fact – spoiler alert – it’s comfortably the best they’ve done.
Now we’ve got the conclusion out of the way, let’s tell you how it gets there.
“Dancing with the Enemy” brings a new meaning to “anthemic”, for starters. But a lot of bands can do that. What they don’t do is deliver it with the honesty of “Glass Heart”. It’s wonderful, and you find yourself wishing that the likes of Bon Jovi had gone down this route. And kudos for the Nirvana reference, too.
The riffs thunder, but they’re not “classic rock”. Modernity is the key to “Fake”, and the big ballad “Am I Dreaming?” breathes new life into 80s-style balladry.
You might have heard “Let’s Go Psycho!” last year – not for nothing was it the first single released from the record (and from where the title comes). It’s the perfect introduction to TDC for those who are unaware (assuming such a person exists).
Working with usual producer Dan Weller, everything has gone up a notch here: the ambition of “The Night Train”, the fists-in-the-air defiance of “Turn It Around” – and if “Spit & Choke” is a metal-tinged adrenalin rush, then it’s also evidence that there’s no excess fat anywhere here.
And if you wanted evidence of the band’s self-professed desire to “push things forward”, then look no further than the raw emotion of the acoustic “Still”. “My moral compass shows nowhere to go,” offers its hook, but it’s the next line that resonates:
“All my life has led me here.”
And it’s all wrapped up in “God Shaped Hole”.
It seems to me that too many people these days focus on the negatives with music – streaming, cost of touring, all the rest. And God knows it must be tough. But just sometimes dreams, you know… they come true.
Ask Those Damn Crows.
Rating: 9.5/10
