Album review: CLOSE QUARTERS – Always A Lot, Never Little

Fassberg & Osterlind Music

“Always A Lot, Never Little” is the second album from Sweden’s Close Quarters, a band who slot in nicely somewhere between the Backyard Babies, Hardcore Superstar and Michael Monroe- all of which have recently released new albums and this one can pretty much hold its own against any of them.

The album is consistently strong, the songs well written and, having played over 200 shows, the band sound good together. Since the release of 2011’s “We Believe In Rock N Roll” the band have seamlessly added second guitarist Marty and new singer Taliqua and these new additions work extremely well.

First single “My Way or The Highway” entered the Swedish rock charts at number one, as did its two predecessors, and paves the way nicely for the album. Having previously worked on Michael Monroe’s “Sensory Overdrive” album, “Always A lot, Never Little” was mixed by Petri Majuri and produced by Staffan Osterlind, who have done a sterling job here.

The album’s title track was written by Backyard Babies main man Nicke Borg whilst “Friday Feeling” features guest vocals from The Quireboys’ Spike and Pontus Snibb from Bonafide, all of which sits nicely with the band’s own sound. Other highlights include opening track “The Boys Are Back”, “Loving On Borrowed Time” and the punchy “Adrenaline Addicted”. The album closes with the obligatory ballad that is “For The First and Last Time”.

In “Always Alot, Never Little” Close Quarters have created a near perfect Scandinavian glam rock album that is not overly reliant on the sleaze factor- and that is what will set it apart from the majority of bands from the region currently having a go. *****

Review by Nikk Gunns

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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)