Album Review: Sun & Sail Club - Shipwrecked
Reviewed by Matthew Williams
Bookended by two rather mellow jazz guitar pieces of music, “Just Friends” and “Days of Wine and Roses” Sun and Sail Club are back after a nine-year hiatus, with a collection of hard-hitting riffs packaged neatly together into new songs that are designed to rip your face off. So, strap in folks, as this is going to be one hell of a bumpy ride.
The craziness kicks off in earnest with a little rhythm battle between Scott Reeder on drums and Scott Reeder on bass, as “Halcyon” ticks all the right boxes for an opening song. The riff is heavy, drums are manic, bass is powerful, with Tony Adolescent adding his vocal talent to the short punchy opener. This will bring much joy to the faces of the fans who’ve waited patiently for new music from this stoner rock “supergroup”.
With the combined power and music know how from bands such as Fu Manchu, Kyuss and The Obsessed, you’d expect nothing but the best from this quartet, and the short, aggressive songs come thick and fast, with “Torture Garden” and “Tumble” keeping the tempo high and as Bob Balch said, “there is a general unease throughout” and that he wanted to create “the soundtrack of me beating the shot out of my guitar”.
“Vector” explodes into life and has that real nasty, aggressive attitude to it that I love, before the drum roll intro of “Bird Strike” heralds a song that has tinges of stoner rock, but heavier and faster than you expect it to be. There’s no laid-back music here, it’s almost as if they’ve got their collective foot fully down on the throttle as they scream down the highway in a bright red hot rod.
More noise ensues, at the beginning of “The Color of War” as it’s booming out of my speakers, and “if you’re a glutton for punishment” as Balch comments, “this might be on your dessert island record” as it is raucous and bruising. There’s a bit of light relief in the shape of “Drag The River” but the riff from Balch is still intense.
However, they ramp it up a few notches once again on “District 19” encouraging everyone to “rise up” before they end with another thunderous drum and bass session from Messrs Reeder, on the superb “Tastes Like Blood”. It’s a pummelling like no other I’ve heard this year, and will shake the foundations of every building it’s played in.
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