A little over a year on from the release of their “absorbing” self-titled debut album, Russ (aka Spunk) and Maff (aka err Maff) from Dirt Box Disco and Spunk Volcano & The Eruptions, along with their long-time producer John Kettle return with their studio-only project SUBMIT and this, their equally intriguing second album entitled ‘SOUP’.
The album title alone was enough to hook yours truly in, I mean that debut ten tracker was certainly a curious amalgam of musical styles, and had more than just a little “90s alternative” feel to it, so have the trio gone all Blind Melon (whose second record was also called ‘Soup’) on us with their return?
Well, according to the notes that accompany the album’s PR kit, the record actually takes its title from a strangely addictive pottage that was served in the Greenhalgh’s bakery opposite the band’s studio in Wigan. So, there you have it, and any fears of the band going full on US college rock on me can be put to bed, that is until I press play and the riff to ‘Pot Holes in Memory Lane’ jumps out of the speakers at me like some long-lost Sugar track.
Look, Russ’s lyrics will always be quintessentially British (in the John Cooper Clarke sense), but what he does here with SUBMIT is take those words outside of the expectations of the punk/metal boundaries defined by his other bands and give them an all new musical light under which to grow.
There’s more late 80s/early 90s influenced guitar riffage evident in the riff to the equally excellent ‘Stubbs’ (possibly the closest SUBMIT get to sounding like the Farrell brothers other bands), and then there’s ‘Cockroaches & Scorpions’ the third video teaser for the album which takes a lowkey grunge guitar riff combines it with a lilting vocal melody line before soaring into a chorus straight out of the Billy Corgan songbook. Wonderful stuff indeed.
Where I think SUBMIT really excel is when they throw the songwriting rulebook totally out of the window like during the fragile beauty of ‘Crushing Your Dreams’ that somehow then goes all Paradise Lost during the heavier mid-section, and then when the Maiden-esque riffage of ‘That’s Unfortunate (Rave On)’ suddenly morphs into the kind of song Terrorvision would have been bothering the charts just a few decades ago, and let’s not forget ‘Catastrophic Biopic’, perhaps my favourite track on ‘SOUP’, simply for its honesty.
Elsewhere ‘Crow With A Bone’ is a 2 minute 30 second slice of power pop that has a pre-chorus that wouldn’t be out of place on a modern-day Bob Mould solo record, whilst ‘My Heart Hates My Blood’ is a brooding slice of pop with a metallic(a)/gothic edge which leaves the anthemic (I mean c’mon does Russ write anything other than anthems) ‘Resilience is Brilliant’ and the jaunty acoustic jig of ‘Distress Call’ (you’ll be humming this bugger after just one listen) to wrap things up.
New music from the Farrell brothers is always welcomed with open arms here at RPM towers, and trust me when I say this CD is custom made to be enjoyed alongside your expansive Dirt Box/Spunk Volcano collections. So, I suggest that you get your copy (via the SHOP link below) pronto. It’s released on July 31st.
Buy – Here
Author: Johnny Hayward
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