| Good, Bad, Review - Feb 09 |
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 THE SMOKING ROLO SIDESHOW Mucho Mojo Baby It’s not often that you hear a band that has three things: great melodies, an intriguing name and an even more interesting album. You have the classics i.e. – ‘Black Sabbath’ with the album ‘Technical Ecstasy’, but since then it’s been hard to find a band that have these three qualities… until now! ‘The Smoking Rolo sideshow’ is a vibrant, unique band hailing from Northumbria whose album is something to be admired. Not only is your attention caught by the vintage style Vinyl CD, the album is split into two acts with a brilliant and beautiful melodic interval. This is a band that put their heart and soul into their work, which is a breath of fresh air on a scene where there are bands that only care about two things: money and fame. This is what makes ‘Mucho Mojo Baby’ a piece of rock ‘n’ roll in the making! The album begins like a historical epic with opening track ‘The King is dead', bringing in two minutes of magnificent acoustic riffs, culminating in a vintage head banging rock ‘n’ roll track to get you moving. The lead vocalist on ‘The Devil’s Best Tune’, Ben Greener, has vocals equal to the power of ‘Stone Temple Pilot’s’ Scott Weilend and does the song proud! Not only are the vocals awesome, the 1970’s style is combined with modern melodies to create something completely different…and wonderful. ‘The Smoking Rolo Sideshow’ makes this an album almost impossible to say a bad word against. Although some of the songs may seem to merge into another, this is already a classic rock album in my eyes. It has given me hope that 2009 will provide some great albums, and will prove that there is still talent out on the music scene. This is definitely one of the best albums I’ve heard so far, so download it now…it’ll make you smile, dance and rock out all night. Long live rock ‘n’ roll!  MOONSHOT No sign of morning History seems to be repeating itself as we start to come to the end of our first decade of the 21st century. In the 80’s there was a recession and synthesisers were all the rage, and now in 2009 the recession is here and ‘Moonshot’ are bringing back the power of the synthesiser. So roll on the 80’s: part 2. ‘No sign of morning’ is the fifth album from London based ‘Moonshot’ and combines 80’s style with tales of 21st century life. Taking influences from major 80’s bands like ‘Pet shop boys’ and ‘Depeche mode’, Daniel Kent and Richard Wolfe are bringing out the reality of the hard times we are facing in a dark, sultry yet upbeat way. Opening track ‘No sign of morning’ begins with vocals that are similar to Indie band Radiohead, drawing you into a world of reflection and intrigue. On the other hand ‘Gifted’ is more uplifting with funky beats that get you tapping your feet, and bring into the new romantic scene of old (If that makes sense!). However, the best track on the album is ‘Black box’. Starting slow and gradually building the tempo, it has great hooks and odd, but metaphorically wonderful lyrics: “Like a fish that tried to walk”. Although the songs are a bit dreary at points, there is still definite promise on this album that ‘Moonshot’ will become even bigger, bolder and better. If you were part of the new romantic scene in the 80’s then this is an album worth investing in, or even if you just want something that little bit different.  GUNS ‘N’ ROSES Better Positive • Rocking intro that kicks in at the right moment - similar to ‘Welcome to the Jungle’ intro • Still has a raw, unperfected classic Guns ‘n’ Roses style Negative • The guitar solos are good…but don’t compare Slash’s marvellous guitar work • Axl Rose screams too much at times NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK 2 in the morning Positive • The lyrics are very moving and touching • In three words: Catchy, memorable and excellent! Negative • Too short - IT’S SO GOOD I WANT MORE! |
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