The Shrieks – ‘Ode To Joe’ (Self Release)

The Shrieks – ‘Ode To Joe’ (Self Release)

New York rock ‘n’ rollers The Shrieks are led by Italian/Venezuelan shrieker Luis Accorsi. After treading the beer & sweat drenched boards of CBGB’S fronting he likes of Manslaughter and Cracked Latin, Luis teamed up with producer Raphael Sepulveda to channel big guitars and even bigger choruses in The Flux Machine. Their masterful ‘Louder’ album came out in 2016 and is well worth checking out if you dig arena rock from the likes of Velvet Revolver and My Chemical Romance.

Fast forward a few years and The Flux Machine have evolved into The Shrieks, and following last year’s ‘Toxygen’ album, Accorsi returns with a new bunch of cool cats and some even cooler tunes to digest.

 

Opener ‘ T.Rex’ carries a ramshackle sound straight from the heart of Johnny Thunders. From the retro guitar riff that sounds like a car horn, to the junkie-like vocal drawl, it exudes the sounds of the streets (or should I say the gutters) of 70’s New York City.

Yeah, you could say The Shrieks shake it loose with the best of ‘em! It’s Lo-fi garage rock to the max on the likes of ‘Love Or Lust’ and the ultra cool and funky ‘Give Love’, where Luis channels Iggy to a soundtrack of soulful backing vocals and Hammond organ runs. Yeah, this is quality stuff.

The edgy title track is ‘Ballad Of Dwight Fry’s funky, punky older brother. A full on Alice meets Iggy run through that lyrically deals with mental health issues. A posthumous tribute to his friend Joe, who worked as a caregiver in a hospital. The singer takes on the roll of doctor, reeling off a list of drug dosing instructions for some hapless patient, over Strokes-like guitar stabs before breaking into a wah-wah infused jam out. Its dark, its quirky and its damn fine too.

‘Notre Dame Is Burning’ takes things down with acoustic countrified vibes and spoken word, poetic vocalisin’. Just lay back and chillax, as the singer takes us on a heady, tripped-out ride to question life, death and everything. As it builds, the vocal harmonies transport us into Pink Floyd territories. Spoken word seems to be a bit of a thang for our man Luis, as it pops up at various places to great effect.

The Shrieks mix it up nicely veering between retro, garage rock, bluesy jams and laid back, countrified sentiment. At all times sounding like the soundtrack to a Starsky & Hutch episode.

The funky ‘Collision’ with its scratchy, wah-wah guitars and pumping NY groove, is a cool tune for sure. Elsewhere, the mournful guitars and tinkling of the ivories add depth to the almost jammed out, countrified ballad that is ‘Let Me Go’. Country style slide guitar and soul sister backing vocals take the more upbeat rock ‘n’ roller ‘Lie To Me’ further into Rolling Stones territory.

Closer ‘Legs’ is a classic rock blues jam of the highest order. Coming on like a young Steven Tyler shrieking over a bad ass Sabbath riff, Luis delivers his most schizophrenic vocal performance as he descends, seemingly into madness for the duration of the song.

 

The Shrieks deliver a solid rock ‘n’ roll record that harks back to a different time. Eclectic and diverse in its own way ‘Ode To Joe’ soaks up 70’s rock nostalgia to great effect. A heady melting pot of what made The New York Dolls, Lou Reed, The Stones and Iggy so damn exciting, and why they still remain a great influence on great rock ‘n’ roll bands today.

 

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Author: Ben Hughes

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Badass Mother Fuzzers – ‘On The Run’ (6Tone Records)

Badass Mother Fuzzers – ‘On The Run’ (6Tone Records)

 One of the best things about doing this website is hearing new music you possibly would never have come across if you’re not being sent emails, speaking to people who suggest a band they’ve come across or a band they’ve heard live somewhere around this beautiful globe. Besides during this lockdown whilst everything seems to have hit pause or slowed right down it has given us time to sniff out some great new bands and records getting released and one of those bands and records has to be this lot from Toulouse.

 

whilst that name didn’t exactly strike me as a grat name as soon as the sounds hit the ether I sat back and listened and inevitably turned it up,  then turned it up a bit more.  sure they use Rickenbackers and wear rollnecks and Winkel pickers because these cats play Garage Fuzzed up Rock and Roll and do it exceedingly well and it came as no surprise to find out they shared the stage with the likes of RPM favs The Lords Of Altamont and toured the States a few years ago with the likes of The Real Kids and were due to play with The Sonics.  So they demand to be taken seriously.

The album was recorded and produced by Jim Diamond (White Stripes, Bellrays, The Sonics, The Fleshtones…) and they have that slightly reverbed production that’s raw and savage and has all that fuzzed up charm you want to hear from a Garage Rock record.

To see they shared a stage with the likes of The Lords Of Altamont will come as a good yardstick for people who’ve never come across the guys before because I’m reminded of them on songs like ‘No No No’ with its energy and sound. Another band I’m reminded of would be some of the earlier recordings from The Hip Priests they may not be as fast and certainly not as potty-mouthed but that attack is there on tracks like ‘Breaking Down’ and ‘Run Run Run’.  They really get on a groove for a lot of the songs and tub thumpers like ‘Don’t Need You’ are more traditional garage maybe steering clear of that classic Hammond or Farfisa organ whirling would be too much for these punks whist with one Cuban heel in the garage the other is in snotty fuck you loud Rock and Roll the likes of MC5 peddled and that’s always going to go down well around here. You can lob in a grenade of Motorhead to proceedings but only when they were a three-piece with Philthy and Fast Eddy as ‘Don’t You Try’ will testify its a formidable racket when you turn up those amps and just go for it.

From top til the bottom, this is a pretty relentless record where you’ve not got a slowie just to break it up its full-tilt zero bullshit and the sleazy ‘Fall For You’ is a great groove to set up the finale on and that finale is the cliched ballad,  Oh no it’s not.  Of Course it isn’t ‘Gonna Get You’ is a fine sign off of energy being expelled before the smoke finally gets wafted from the speaker that will smoke long after this has finished.  Take a break, lie down in a darkened room then get back on it.  Turn it up and kick out those jams motherfuckers!

 

Buy ‘On The Run’ Here

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Author: Dom Daley