What could be better than a new Spunk Volcano album to help cheer us all up during this rain-drenched summer we’re having here in the UK? Well, how about two Spunk Volcano albums?
That’s right folks ‘Double Bastard’ is not only Spunk Volcano And The Eruptions fourth studio album to date but it’s also a double (bastard) album.
Containing twenty five tracks of pure Spunk Rock ‘Double Bastard’ flips effortlessly from punk to metal to Oi! to some good old mondo bongo rock ‘n’ roll (more of this later) whilst never once straying too far from the semi-legendary SAW (Spunk’s Anthem Writing) formula we have all come to revere the masked madman for.
Of course, a lot has happened in the Eruptions camp since 2017’s excellent (and Ginger Wildheart endorsed) ‘Not Wired Up Right’ album, for starters they’ve changed record labels, then came the shortening of their name (to S.V. And The Eruptions) after some venues refused to book them, and most recently the acquisition of both ex-FDC Joey Strange on bass and rabid Faxe drinker Scott Russell on guitar – makes this line up perhaps the band’s most insanely perfect yet.
‘Double Bastard’ then is the larger than life sound of this loveable bunch of antiheroes captured in the studio, and before I delve into the nitty gritty of the album I’d just like to say “if there’s anyone out there right now who is writing more memorable punk rock hymns dedicated to this disaffected country of ours I’d certainly like you to point them in my direction.”
Away from the constraints of Dirtbox Disco’s “swing your pants” feelgood punk rock the darker more introverted side of Spunk Volcano has always been where I’ve found some of his most interesting work and here tracks like ‘Road Rage’, ‘You Think Your Rock N Roll But You’re Not’, ‘Independent Fire’ and ‘Personality Black Hole’ turn the noise levels up way past critical with the first three tunes having more than just a hint of Motorhead about them and the latter thrashing away like an in their prime Slayer.
Ole Spunk chops has certainly not forgotten his punk rock roots though and tracks like the Pistols meets Sparrer riot that is ‘Sucking Up’, the whoa-oh-waddytastic ‘TCP’ ‘and the infectious genius of ‘Scared Of Needles’ are some of the very best tunes the masked marauder and his mob of misfits have ever committed to CD.
Elsewhere the dissonantly melancholic pop of ‘Red Rings’, ‘99%’ and ‘Shit Excuse’ provide an almost sugar free alternative to the full on assault of their surroundings and in ‘Old Wives Tales’ you have the band’s most bongo-bonkers tune to date somewhere where the true genius of what makes Spunk Volcano such an amazingly prolific songwriter is condensed into 2 minutes of 30 seconds of….well, you have to hear it for yourselves.
At 25 tracks long ‘Double Bastard’ could perhaps be accused of being Spunk Volcano’s very own ‘(Ab)Use Your Illusion’, however unlike those overblown pieces of GN’R released stadium rock bollocks where you could have made one decent album out of the two, nothing could be further from the truth here. Although I must admit the idea of the Eruptions spunking a ‘November Rain’ sized budget on a video for the stupendously silly ‘Sooper Dooper’ (a song with one of the very best opening lines of all time) certainly wouldn’t be without its charms.
Released on 21st of June 2019 ‘Double Bastard’ is an expansive (not expensive) celebration of gloriously catchy potty-mouthed punk rock ‘n’ roll, providing the perfect pick me up to our depressing UK summer.
Author: Johnny Hayward
Buy Double Bastard Here
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