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Review |
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Imagine going to a pub, and seeing a band play. You know, mainly old men,
cigarette in mouth, looking down lovingly at the necks of their guitars,
playing old rock songs and thinking they're cool. Now imagine a young
wannabe Nirvana. And finally, mix the two, and add a British version of
the Hives' lead singer.
Welcome to Scout's Honour.
The vocals, (as you may have guessed with the Hives' reference,) are less
of the singing variety, and more of the shout. And the instrumentation.
Well. It's really all kinds of styles. But that in a way, is what makes
a great album. A variety of sounds.
The opening track, “Devils' Serenade,” makes you wonder if
someone's switched your CDs. Gentle harmonica music? You what? And then
the real Scout's Honour start. It actually sounds quite promising. Dirty
fucking rock. Slow paced, a bit disjointed, and angry. And then the verse
cuts to acoustic momentarily, with country-style slides and the like.
The guitar is all over the place, sounding like it's being played with
a slide. (Again, much like country songs.)
Country-metal? Oh I say. That's a bit different. I'm not sure we're ready
for this.
One of the highlights of the album is “Soul Mate,” and the
then “The Sun Won't Set In The West.”
Track 5. Oh no. The CD is broken. Mistake at the printers? Yee-hah, it's
a country song. We're back in the bar you imagined at the start. Now it's
in Tennessee. The Hives' singer has been shot, and a man in a cowboy hat
has stolen his place on stage, fueled with Jack Daniels. He's ordered
the band to play some country tracks, or they'll get shot too, and they
go along with it. Not bad though to be fair. “The Songs They Sing.”
Next song, “Pillar Of Faith,” the band are feeling daring.
'Let's play some more metal and see if he actually shoots us.' Well no.
He must be drunk beyond belief, because he's going along with it.
This track is possibly the closest to County-Metal on the album. The gentle
friendly vocals with a slightly sinister tone, and the distorted underscore.
An interesting blend to say the least.
The next few tracks are a mixture of the shouting and the singing. Another
full-on country tune being “Joshua,” and a highlight being
“To And Fro.”
There is a hidden track at the end, which I can only refer to as “Hidden
Track.” And it's a shame it's hidden really. Because I think it's
the best track on the album. It blends everything. There's heavy metal
guitars, then conventional alternative rock rhythms, shouting, melodic
shouting, and a gentle acoustic outro. Really something special.
The thing that is holding back this album from being something amazing,
is, well, it doesn't have the oomph of a great record. It's got a bit
of variety, but it never really gets anywhere that memorable. Saying that
though, it's certainly not bad.
3/5
Review by Thom |
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Members |
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Jared Grabb (Vocals, Guitar, Banjo,
Bass)
Chris Mackey (Bass, Guitar, Vocals)
Atomic Satterfield (Drums, Percussion,
Vocals) |
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Listing |
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1. Devils Serenade
2. Canvas
3. Soul Man
4. The Sun Won't Set in the West
5. The Songs They Sing
6. Pillar of Faith
7. To and Fro
8. Joshua
9. I Am the Dust
10. Like Death, I Will Come for You
11. The Earthly Parade |
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| Band
Related Links |
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| Review
Score Code |
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- Top Cheese
- Brilliant
- Pretty damn good
- Ok I guess
-
What Was That? |
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