In Dante’s Inferno, the second circle begins the proper punishment of Hell, a place where “no thing gleams.” It is reserved for those overcome with Lust, where carnal appetites hold sway over reason. In Nine Circles, it’s where we do shorter reviews of new (ish) albums that share a common theme.
Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: a pair of bands walk into a bar, both beginning with the letter “A”. The bartender sizes them up, says “Whadddaya have?”
Abrams reviews the bottles behind the bartender, the lights from the LED strips pushing through the amber and clear liquids. “Four beers, with four shots of bourbon to chase it down with.” The mustachio’d bartender nods approvingly as he pours, breaking out the good stuff from under the counter. As he does he turns to the rowdy group at the other end of the bar. Admiral Sir Cloudesley Shovell have already taken the initiative, grabbing random bottles without a thought to mixologist etiquette; indeed, the bartender can note one of the band members attaching a rubber tube from one of the draft levers and looks to have been sucking for an hour, judging from the pool of spilled liquid (or urine, it’s hard to tell in this light) slowly growing on the floor.
Two bands, each approaching their respective styles in unique ways. Time to descend.
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It’s been near enough to a decade since Fearless Editor Josh™ clued me in on the Denver, CO. hybrid noise rock unit, and we’ve both grown into huge fans. The move to Blues Funeral Recordings (if you were part of that Postwax series I keep going on about, you would have gotten this early, folks…and the new Elder is next!) for 2024’s Blue City introduced shades of 2000s melodic rock alongside the group’s angular noise rock riffage, and latest album Loon swings even harder for its earned moments of anthemic hooks and singalong choruses. And for a second time in a row the quartet make it work without sacrificing their core identity of a sludgy, stoner noise rock band.
Something like “Last Nail” has everything you could want in a rock radio staple, and vocalist/guitarist Zach Amster’s growth and confidence as a vocalist allows him to veer instantly from this accessible hook into something much more aggressive and searing like “White Walls” or the noise-forward Unsane worship of something like “Said & Done.” By the time of “Siren” and its sense of closure Abrams have released the best album of their careers.
Loon is available now from Blues Funeral Recordings. For more information on Abrams, check out their Facebook and Instagram pages.
Seven years. That’s how long I’ve been waiting for Admiral Sir Cloudesley Shovell to return with a follow-up to 2019 incredible (and end of year listing) Very Uncertain Times. For a band that traffics in, let’s say not the most technical or complex song structures in the world, it takes time to find the right set of grooves, and while I’m still debating whether this is “I waited seven years” good, I am happy to report that The Trouble With the Shovell is very good trouble indeed.
Have you shaken off the dust of that terrible reference? Despite the lack of seemingly any promotional videos or links I can share with you, the latest slab of ’70s glam and classic rock mixed with the green haze of modern stoner rock does indeed arrive this Friday, April 24th, and tracks like opener “Laughing Gravy” have exactly the right amount of loose, boozy humbuckers laying out enough hammer on and pull-offs to make even the most flabby of dad bods get up and launch their beers into the air with their collective air guitar windmilling. I mean that in the best possible way, and as tracks like “A Better Day” and “Slaved in Full” bring an ominous tone that adds a bit of the old black magicks to the band’s supple groove. I wholeheartedly approve, and am already scrounging to see if I can avoid the insane shipping from Rise Above with a US-based hookup.
The Trouble With the Shovell is available April 24 from Rise Above Records. For more information on Admiral Sir Cloudesley Shovell, check out their Facebook page.
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Until next time, keep it heavy…keep it safe.
– Chris
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