The Ugly Guys - Lost In the Badlands

UGLY GUYS – Lost in the Badlands
Angel Air www.angelair.co.uk

The Ugly Guys feature Paul Shuttleworth and Vic Collins from the legendary 70’s pub rock band the Kursaal Flyers and the band take their name from a Kursaal Flyers song.

The album is a mix of traditional country & western and classic rock ‘n’ roll, making for a pleasurable if not essential listen. The band even takes a pop at current music on ‘Modern Music’ saying they prefer the older sounds and when they play them this well who can argue? It can a bit to C&W for my personal tastes like on ‘Heart River Falls’, although with an Eagles sound it is sure to please their fans .

If they can get themselves over to the US they would go down a storm live I am sure. ***

Jason Ritchie

JOEL SARAKULA – The Golden Age
www.joelsarakula.com

Joel Sarakula was born in Australia but now lives in London and he covers a wide musical spectrum on this album. It’s all here from the melancholy ‘Shadows’ where his vocal works well against a piano backdrop (the slow guitar solo works wonders in the song too) and then there is ‘Bohemian’, a lovely song and one for airplay. ‘Good Books’ delves into catchy pop rock this is the sort of tune that should be clogging up the top 40 charts if there was any musical justice in the world.

If nothing else listen to ‘Old Yellow Photographs’ which explodes into life when the Beach Boys approved chorus comes in. This sort of song reminds you why you love discovering new music so much!

Perfect pop rock and lots of musical variety make this a shining example of how to do music the artist obviously enjoys become loved by the listener. I am pretty sure this will grow even more in popularity with me with successive plays of the album. ****

Jason Ritchie

NOEGA Poema Sinfonico www.bandanoega.net

You’re probably thinking what the hell is a Spanish pipe band doing on a rock website? Remember we are usually talking about anything that physically moves us and all the better if it has a screaming guitar.

No screaming guitar this time, but Noega combine traditional folk with jazz/rock rhythms. Alan Stivell was pioneering this sort of thing back in the 1970s and probably did it better than most.

Once you get past the two scene-setting openers, the signature tune ‘Noega’ is like Alan Stivell meets Weather Report. It works because it’s very melodic and infectious and this is repeated on ‘in hoc signo vinces’ and ‘No mas alto, el llar’.

Evidently recorded live in parts, some may find the Spanish narrative intrusive but overall this adds to the ethnicity of a band that tours regularly in Europe. With a beer on your lips, under a hot Mediterranean sun, this colourful music could wash away your blues. ***

Review by David Randall

MAD CHICKENS – Kill Hermit!

Ghost Record Label

A very weird album and sorry but the vocals are not the best and the accents don’t help I am afraid. Having said that, if you enjoy psychedelic meets grunge worth a listen. The song titles are good fun through, with ‘Kill Hermit! Gun In My Hand’ and ‘Extremely Reflexed In Your Mirror’ pick of the bunch. The mellower ‘Fell In Love’ is the stand out and to be fair the music is fine, the Pixies by way of Alice In Chains. **

Jason Ritchie

Colour The Atlas - Building Skyscrapers

COLOUR THE ATLAS Building Skyscrapers EP

The new EP from Colour the Atlas, a young quartet from Swindon, is a corker.

Following on from their eponymous debut EP, the band are writing and vocal partners Jess Hall (vocals) and Alex Stone (guitar, vocals), with a rhythm section of Andy Vincent (bass) and Stef Pysanczyn (drums) – a re-badging of the short-lived but hugely promising Jess Hall band.

Their new ‘Building Skyscrapers’ EP includes their live favourite, Blue Eyes, and three new songs, Paper Wings, Revolutions and Rise’. It’s a master class in acoustic based song writing brimming with enchanting simplicity, and the combination with Jess’ fragile and evocative vocals is sublime – one that signals a potential major talent. The next big thing? I wouldn’t bet against it. ****

Review by Pete Whalley

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Power Plays w/c 9 December 2024

In this sequence we play ‘The Best of 2024′ GRTR! reviewer selections

Featured Albums w/c 9 December 2024

09:00-12:00 The Best of 2024 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003-2024 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2024 (Singer Songwriter)