Wrathchild America - Climbin' The Walls / 3-D

Wrathchild America initially formed in 1978 under the name Atlantis and then Tyrant. They went through a handful of member changes and then when Brad Divens joined in 1983, after a couple of years in Kix, his studio experience allowed him to help with song construction and give them some direction.  Unfortunately, while they had a pretty good reputation as a live band, by the time their debut album was released in 1989 (delayed by a year due to another band named Wrathchild, hence the “America”) musical tastes were changing and they never really got their just due.  They did manage to release a second album in 1991, but with the explosion of grunge, it was even less successful and Atlantic Records dropped them.  This newly released double CD includes both of these releases along with two bonus cuts.  

From the time Divens joined until they signed their major label deal, the band focused on rehearsing and playing live.  They often played five nights a week and since the clubs wanted covers they learned how to play alot of different styles.  Due to this, there ended up being a lot of variety and diversity on their debut album Climbin’ The Walls.  The album opens strongly with the title track, a fast-paced thrasher that also has some interesting tempo shifts throughout.  Hell's Gates is up next and is a hard-charging track, that sounds a little like Iron Maiden if they had more of a thrash edge.  It has some impressive guitar work along with Shannon Larkin's drumming.  The aforementioned diversity comes into play with "No Deposit, No Return," a fun, kind of gritty rocker with a hint of blues and a really nice slower acoustic passage about halfway through.  The album's instrumental track "Hernia" does a great job of showcasing the musicianship of the band, but the song itself is a little lackluster.  The nearly six minute “London After Midnight” is probably the most interesting track on the album.  The foundation of the song is very Iron Maiden sounding, but with a strong goth element, as you might expect by the title.  With its B horror movie lyrics, "Candy From A Madman" is straight ahead rock somewhat in the vein of NWOBHM, but with an instrumental interlude that is almost whimsical.  "Silent Darkness (Smothered Life)" has elements of classic rock, metal and thrash with more dark horror lyrics, this time about being buried alive during a prank and then returning from the grave for revenge.  Their cover of Pink Floyd’s time doesn’t stray too far from the original but does have more of a metal edge especially in the crunching guitar work.  Closing out the album is “Day Of The Thunder,” a driving rocker that is somewhat reminiscent of Iron Maiden both lyrically and musically, although not as heavy.  Climbin’ The Walls is a solid debut, but with one big drawback for me, which is the thin and somewhat flat production.  

While the debut had some diversity, their sophomore release 3-D, which was produced by in demand producer Alex Perialis, took things to another level in both quality and diversity, making it hard to believe it’s the same band.  “3-D Man” gets things going and is an aggressive, in-your-face track that sounds like Metallica if they played jazz.  With its walking bass line “Spy” is a super funky rocker that is extremely well-played and just makes for a fun listen.  Melding funk and technical metal, “Gentleman Death” is an album highlight with some very strong guitar work, followed by “Forever Alone,” a solid groove metal track that was a precursor to where they would go in Souls At Zero (more on that later).  The six minute “Draintime” is an impressive track with a lot of prog tendencies shifting back and forth from softer acoustic passages to heavy power metal.  “Surrounded By Idiots” is a fun, funky trash tune with a lot of twisting, turning instrumental passages that brings to mind Anthrax and Scatterbrain.  The six and half minute “Desert Smiles” is a very dynamic song with constantly shifting tempos that go from intense thrash to an acoustic guitar instrumental section and even throws in some talkbox before segueing into the brutal, absolutely in your face “What’s Your Pleasure?,” which will have you thinking Anthrax.  The instrumental “Prego” (as in “it’s in there” from the old pasta sauce commercials) is a fun, all over the place, instrumental that crams in about every style of music known to man.  It really shows the band’s musical prowess, even sounds like the theme song to some offbeat old school cartoon at times.  Probably one of the album’s weakest tracks is “Another Namelesss Face,” a bluesy rock tune with a metal edge that’s a little too plodding and missing the fun edge that can be found on the rest of the album.  The album wraps up with “//,” a straight-ahead, breakneck paced thrash tune with an inexplicable reggae section in the middle.  Also included on disc two are a fun cover of Albert Collins’ blues track “I Ain’t Drunk, I’m Just Drinking,” which sticks pretty close to the original, but adds a little metal punch, and an edited version of “Surrounded By Idiots.”  It's a shame their timing was just a little off, because listening back to these albums it's apparent that if they were released a few years earlier, they would be much better known.  Interestingly, once they were dropped from Atlantic Records in 1992, the band changed up their style. renamed themselves Souls At Zero and released a couple more albums under that name.  Following that band, Larkin went on to drum for Ugly Kid Joe and then played with Godsmack for over twenty years, while Divens became an in-demand audio engineer, working with artists like Motley Crue, Cyndi Lauper, Garbage and HIM.

(Dissonance Productions)

da nang - Kids EP

On their new EP Kids, Toronto three-piece da nang lay out four solid cuts of alt rock, emo and post-punk with an ever-present sense of melancholy that often reminds me of bands like The Smoking Popes and Sugar.  Several of the songs have an undercurrent of tension and along the way there are also elements like the jangly guitars in “Your Feed” and the strong pop melodies of the title track to keep things fresh.  Nostalgia is a common theme with well-crafted lyrics dealing with things like first love and heartbreak, birthdays and getting older.  

(da nang - instagram)

Snips - The Solo Years 1978-1981

Following his stint as lead singer of Sharks (see the review of their box set Car Crash Supergroup back in February) and then Baker Gurvitz Army, Steve “Snips” Parsons released a couple of really strong solo albums, Video King and La Rocca!  These two releases, along with 31 previously unreleased tracks (27 unissued BBC live and session recordings), have now been compiled in the outstanding new three-CD box set The Solo Years 1978-1981.  

Disc one opens with the album Video King, which was produced by Steve Lillywhite and featured John Bentley (later in Squeeze) and Mick Dyche on guitar, Graham Deakin (John Entwistle's band The Ox) and Jackie Badger (Mother Superior) on bass.  It’s a fun collection of tunes that find him shifting more towards New Wave in its early days especially on songs like the punchy, upbeat opener “Love Is Blind”, the midtempo “Film Club,” “Walking” (co-written by former Sharks bandmate Chris Spedding who later covered it) and they super infectious, keyboard driven “Eat It Up,” which sounds like it should’ve had an accompanying  video playing over and over on MTV in its infancy.  The quirky “Stravinky’s Shoes” also follows that path, but with its use of sax it has moments that bring to mind Psychedelic Furs and Spear of Destiny (interestingly it also has a passage that pops up a couple of times that is very reminiscent of Talking Heads “Psycho Killer” which came out at almost the same time).  There are also several tracks that harken back to his work with the Sharks.  “Video Kings” and “Dracula” are more straight-ahead rockers with a bluesy edge that are perfect examples, as is the slow, bluesy “Babaloomah.”  “Under Suspicion” is an easygoing, almost loping, cut that mixes some rootsy elements with the New Wave, and closer “Animal Century” is almost six minutes and is a big sounding song with storytelling lyrics.  Disc one also has fourteen bonus tracks starting with “Smash Your TV,” an upbeat power pop song with a touch of glam, that was the b-side to the “Waiting For Tonight” single.  Next up are four previously unreleased tracks that appear to be demos, although there is no context given.  The first three are listed as re-recorded versions of albums tracks "Radio Kings" ("Video Kings" on the album), "Dracula" and "Babaloomah."  They are a little more ragged and the first two are heavier.  The fourth is “Taxi,” a really strong rock track that also sounds a lot like his work with the Sharks.  The remaining nine bonus tracks on disc one are a live set from November 22, 1978, recorded at the Paris Theatre in London for the BBC’s Andy Peebles Show.  The recording itself is really good, and the band is tight and sounds great, playing a selection of songs from both albums along with a couple of energetic rockers “Flow My Tears” and “Music Breakout.”

Since Video King failed to have alot of sales, their record label Jet wouldn't pay for a second album, and the band was disbanded.  Snips continued to cut demos and when he recorded the song "Nine O'clock," everyone thought he had a hit, which led to him getting a deal with MAM Records for three singles.  At this point he teamed up with Midge Ure as producer, guitar and synths and along with Steve Young (Holly And The Italians) on drums and Jackie B on bass, they recorded a new version.  The song went into heavy rotation on radio and had great reviews, but the label didn't press enough copies (stores were saying they sold out in three days) and the momentum was lost.  To try to make up for it, EMI gave him an album deal, resulting in his second album La Rocca!  Production on the remaining tracks was handled by Spedding, who also played guitars and keys, with Badger returning on bass, Bill Nelson (Be Bop Deluxe) on synths, and Clem Cattini and Dave Mattacks (Fairport Convention) on drums.  Overall, the album moves even further in the new wave and power pop direction, but with more experimentation than the debut.  The aforementioned "Nine O'clock" kicks things off and was definitely a missed opportunity.  It's an insanely catchy power pop track with a bit of an edge that has hit single written all over it.  Driven by a pulsing electronic beat and with a lot of synth washes mixed in, the experimentation is very evident on the title track.  The new wave influence is strong on cuts like punchy rocker “Skies Of England” (a tribute to Brian Jones) and the upbeat power pop songs “Backs Of Millions” and “Happy Sometimes."  “Telepathy” shows the quirkier side and the laid-back “The Rain” has a bit of New Romantics moodiness. “Dark Outside” and “Work” are a couple of rockers that have a soulful rootsy grit.  The album also contains a cover of Larry Wallis’ “Police Car,” which has an interesting arrangement, slowing it down and giving it a dark, more intense sound.  Disc two is rounded out with six more bonus cuts originally released as singles.  “What’s Your Number” was the b-side to “Nine O’Clock” and is an early Elvis Costello-ish New Wave track.  Their cover of Holland Dozier Holland’s “You’re A Wonderful One” (originally sung by Marvin Gaye) is a fun, R&B-tinged pub rock cut punctuated with some great sax with the heavier, kinder darker “Mr Dillinger” on the flip.  The catchy New Wave power pop “Lolita” was the b-side to “Telepathy” and lastly is the “Tight Mix” version of album track “Tight Shoes” that is a lot better than the album version, which to me is a little lackluster, with “Noise” and its infectious driving beat on the back.  

The third disc in this set is titled BBC Recordings and contains eighteen previously unreleased tracks recorded for the BBC during three different sessions.  The first set was again recorded for the Andy Peebles Show, this time on February 16, 1979.  Along with "Flow My Tears" and "Music Breakout," which were also on the earlier session, but never released in studio versions, are an energetic "Nine O'clock" and "Twelve O'Clock," which is a tad mellower, but just as catchy.  The last two sets were recorded for BBC in Concert, starting off with a seven-song session recorded on March 5, 1980, and featuring Midge Ure on keys.  In addition to tracks from the sophomore album and a single B-side they also played three songs that were never released.  “Mr Machine” is a dark rocker with a strong noisy electronic element that shows Ure’s influence, while “I Am The Line” is more pop-tinged New Wave rock and “Rat Catcher” is a taut, midtempo track.  The final seven songs are from a session that was recorded on January 6, 1981.  This time they stuck pretty much with tracks from La Rocca!, with the closing “Kustom Car Kommandos,” being the only track not on the album.  It’s a fun, super catchy, manic paced track, and it’s a shame it never got properly recorded in the studio.  The various bands on all three shows sound great and the recordings are outstanding, definitely making them a great addition to the box set.  Rounding things out is a booklet with detailed liner notes written by Snips.  

(Lemon Recordings)

Fuller - Fuller EP

With five songs running just over twelve minutes on their self-titled EP, Germany’s Fuller (featuring members of Heim, Somewhere Underwater, Prison Shank, G.L.O.W. and Paulinchen Brennt) show that sometimes basic, no-frills rock is all it takes.  The production is simple and somewhat lo-fi, bringing to mind Dinosaur Jr or Built To Spill, with the vocals a little low in the mix so they are just above the instruments.  The songs are largely power pop gems at their core (opener “Mew” is one of the catchiest tunes I’ve heard in awhile), but with a ragged, fast-paced punk energy that gets straight to the point.  Even though the EP is short, you’ll have no problem hitting the repeat and listening over and over again.  

(Fuller - Bandcamp)

Atomic Rooster - Circle The Sun

Atomic Rooster was originally formed in 1969 by organist Vincent Crane and drummer Carl Palmer (both members of the final lineup of The Crazy World Of Arthur Brown).  The band was active from 1969 to 1975 and then again from 1980 to 1985 and went through several lineup changes over that time, with notable members including Chris Farlowe, Ginger Baker, John McCoy and Bernie Torme.  During this time, Crane was the only constant member before sadly passing away in 1989.  Then in 2016, with Crane’s widow giving permission to use the name, Steve Bolton (a member in 1971 and 1972) and Pete French (a member in 1971) brought the band back to life with a new line-up.  Since then, the band has gone through several more member changes and now with the lineup consisting of Bolton, Adrian Gautrey, Shugg Millidge and Paul Everett (due to his inability to keep up with their touring, French left the band in late 2023), they have released Circle The Sun, their first album since 1983.  Driven largely by Gautrey’s organ, the album does the band’s name proud, bringing to mind the classic Atomic Rooster sound, but with a modern-day edge.  They waste no time showing this with opener “Fly Or Die,” a high energy, fuzzed out, blues-tinged rocker.  The title track is up next and follows a similar path but with a bit of a chugging, funk swagger.  The hypnotic “Never 2 Lose” is a slower track, that is darker and a bit ominous with great swirling keyboards, while “Follow Me” with its twisting and turning tempo shifts takes things in more of a prog rock direction.  “Rebel Devil” and “First Impression” (check out the keys on this one) are straight-up classic rock tunes that are a couple of the more hook-heavy tracks here. “No More,” meshing goth and psychedelia, and the slower “Pillow” (with a powerful vocal performance that is somewhat reminiscent of Mark Lanegan) are darker and heavier with a sound that harkens back a little to their Death Walks Behind You album.  “Last Night” finds them sliding sideways into some slinky soulful funk rock that really showcases Gautrey’s versatility on the keys and brings us to the rollicking closer “Blow That Mind."  Circle The Sun is a welcome return for Atomic Rooster and hopefully not the last we will hear from the band.

(Esoteric Antenna)