Band Of Skulls – « Sweet Sour »

For a band that have such an impressive and overwhelming sound, it is difficult to believe it consists of just three of them who have only been together since 2008. Southampton based band, Band Of Skulls, are into their third album now with Sweet Sour and it is one of the best albums I have heard for a very long time.

The album spirals into headline track, « Sweet Sour » with full gusto, and almost sets the high benchmark that the rest of the album wishes to live up to. We instantly know the band is here to revive classic rock, and remove this dated misconception that has recently developed around the genre. This song is classic at its finest, with ruff guitars and seductive vocals which instantly lure us in.  »Bruises« , another track to be released before the album, is already a huge hit across UK radio stations. The slow, calmer areas of the song remind me of classic Radiohead material, a possible influence, however once the strong, dramatic guitar hits us, amongst Russel Marsden and Emma Richardson’s melodic and almost innocent vocals, the contrast works brilliantly. The dirty guitars have essences of recent Sleigh Bells tracks, showing a true united front from various bands to revive this lost genre of pure rock. Third track on the album, « Lay My Head Down », has this interesting and alternative introduction which lulls into a beautiful, transcending, harp – like plucking. Lyrically, the simplicity and purity instantly creates this relaxed tone to the song, which compared against the first two tracks, shows brilliant versatility. The unexpected burst nearing the end, surprisingly works really well within the song, strangely maintaining the slow and controlled pace of the track. We return back to tranquillity to end the song perfectly.

The album then forwards into a song that really is the original sound of traditional rock in, « The Devil Takes Care Of His Own ». Rock as a genre, has been manipulated, explored and experimented with at late, with the introduction of a lot of techno and trance sounding synths being introduced, as well as bands veering away from heavier sounding music, in order to hit the mainstream ‘indie’ crowd. Band Of Skulls however, own both indie, alternative and rock fans purely because they have worked so hard in producing classic rock, but well, and without just trying to sound like a tribute band to some of the greats. This track represents this instantly.The next two tracks, « Wander Luster » and « Navigate » have a brilliant off beat sound which automatically makes the track interesting and stand out from some of the more commercial tracks previous. « Navigate«  has the tension build of Foo Fighters track, Pretender, which works with Richardson’s harrowing and effective vocals. It’s quite a dark sounding track that you can just ease through and enjoy. My favourite track from the album surprised me however. I expected to prefer their catchy, ruff sounding rock tracks, with punchy drums and addictive lyrics. « Hometowns« , the eighth track is almost in the form of a lullaby. Beautiful harmonies build this love song that is not stereotypically cliché and cheesy, but just honest and pure. The line, ‘I was looking for the one, but I’ll guess you’ll do’ sums the track up in one. Other therapeutic tracks come in the form of « Close To Nowhere« , where you can just float through and arrive at the end of the album.

Overall, ‘Sweet Sour’ is a fantastic album from a band with such an exciting future – this material is going to take them to a completely new level for 2012.

Tracklist:

01. Sweet Sour
02. Bruises
03. Wanderluster
04. Devil Takes Care of His Own
05. Lay My Head Down
06. You’re Not Pretty But You Got it Going On
07. Navigate
08. Hometowns
09. Lies
10. Close to Nowhere

Grace O’Grady