Album Review: Crimson Star - The Olde Dawg
Reviewed by Tim Finch
Hard, heavy rock is seeing much of a resurgence of late. It seems the fans of this genre are waking up from their slumber and coming out in numbers (when not under isolation conditions) to shows and to buy records. The genre is in fact booming with full venues showing just how popular it is.
One of the plethora of new bands emerging from this rejuvenated scene are Crimson Star, a Birmingham based trio blazing a trail and leaving others in their wake. It’s taken them seven years of hard work to get to this point, but now breaking through to the main stream must be their goal and with new E.P. ‘The Olde Dawg’ they may just do it.
A line-up change lead the band into the studio for this new release, new drummer Chris Hopton joining forces with the already established Jay D Shaw (vocals/guitars) and Roj Ash (Bass). The resulting output is somewhat special…
Opening the E.P. with ‘Living A Lie’ the beat of Hopton's drum leads us into the main body of the song, guitars dripping in the influence of 90’s grunge fill the listeners ears with a warm, welcoming sound. Shaw’s vocals perfectly matching the style. ‘Norma’ and ‘Olde Dawg’ follow this formula too, rounding out the three track release. To compare them to Nirvana would be generic and lazy, they are not Nirvana style grunge, but they have a style that would have been perfectly suited to that Seattle scene.
The E.P. is wonderfully produced and written. The bands performance oozes warmth, it drags you into the songs, makes you feel good whilst listening and after a few repeat plays has you singing along like you’ve known the material your whole life. If the band are to break through to a bigger audience this year, then this E.P. is the perfect way to do it.
'The Olde Dawg' is out now from all good music outlets!
