ninehertz

Being a simple yokel type, I always approve of music that can invoke an instant (positive!) reaction. A mere twenty seconds into the lead track of Stubb's EP and my face is hugely contorted into furious air guitar ecstasy. 'Road' begins with a big lolloping drumbeat before it is savagely underpinned with the aforementioned axe gymnastics that screams 'Hendriiiiix!' in your ears. The rest of the track is dominated by a fantastic foot stomping chorus and some more totally necessary wig outs. Definitely a track for one of those 'driving in your car' cd-r compilations.

'Flame' is the laid back chiller of the tracks on offer here, the opening riff is immediately reminiscent of Free - the rock solid rhythm section giving the guitars room to breathe, especially in the little solo at the end of the verse. There's a really nice section towards the latter part of the song where the vocals mimic the guitar note for note as well, making this my favourite track of the cd.

Finally, 'Galloping Horses' introduces a little bit of Fu Manchu / Nebula influence into the heady brew, half a constantly tempo shifting wah heavy bluesy assault on the senses designed to get even the most reluctant of people shaking their stuff down the front and the other half a terrific intricate spiderweb of gradually building melody eventually culminating in a triumphant finale to an super collection of songs.

I did have a little initial concern about the vocals being perhaps a little low in the mix (especially in the first track), but you can't help think that this was purposely done to let the guitars do the majority of talking and to also accentuate the feel of the production the band have tried to get. You may as well get as authentic as possible if you can, especially in these highly technological times. Well, how many acts record live to ½' tape these days??? If this is the result, then I feel more bands should be looking in that direction.

Even though a great deal of people on 9hz probably already own a copy of this, I would not hesitate in recommending it to anyone who loves any of the bands mentioned above or Seventies flavoured rock in general. Now it's been made available to buy through the bands' website, what are you waiting for? Off you go then.