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Artist: The Poodles |
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One thing you find out quickly when it comes to choosing rock music as your thing is, don't judge a band by its name alone. Anyone seeing the name The Poodles for the first time may be put off, but don't be, you'll be in for a big surprise when you hear what's in store from this band. Formed in 2005 in their native Sweden, they have come on leaps and bounds since their debut album 'Metal Will Stand Tall', carving out a name for themselves as a force to be reckoned with, which you'll find out here on 'Performocracy'. They take the bull by the horns on opener 'I Want It All', simply a first rate rocker with a hint of "eastern promise" gracing its sound. It's instantly obvious that this band's main quality above good musicianship, is in their harmonies, perfectly shown throughout 'Until Our Kingdom Falls'. beware though, you'll be enjoying the song so much, the sudden ending will have you checking the speakers to see if they've suddenly gone off! By the end of 'Father To A Son' you realise that the band's name doesn't really justify how good a rock outfit this group is, shown no better than on the ultra-heavy 'I Believe In You'. The riffs alone demolishing any thoughts of "they won't keep this up for long!". Henrik Bergqvuist solos, even though short, rips a new hole where there wasn't one very easily! If you like to hear a ballad now and then, please just sit back and fall in love with the splendid 'As Time Is Passing'. It is simply one of the best you'll hear this year, again those harmonies spine-tingling against a huge background of some heart-strings tweaking music. Jakob Samuel's vocals ability couldn't get any better when it was needed for such a powerful track, so well done that man. 'Cuts Like a Knife' is the first single to be taken from the album, that catchy style of European rock that is getting more recognised on these shores now, the grand keyboards being the soul of the tune, mixed with a wall of rich guitar and drumming. Now you can see why bands like The Poodles N.O.W and HEAT are making waves within today's melodic rock scene. Another contender for a single, could well be 'Bring Back The Night' it's R.E.M styled guitar intro gets you hooked straight away, ending up being a drummer's wet dream of a song, as it's all based around Christina Lundqvist's drumming session as it were. He must have been enjoying himself so much that it could have been a case of "OK lads, after 3 again" on 'Vampires Call', where its almost impossible not to do some secret air-drumming for once! There's a slight air of seriousness wafting over 'Action' even though listening to the lyrics, it seems to be a wanting of a woman's charms, but due to the nature of the sharp n' cutting music, I think it'll be a case of "not tonight dear". A quite cold and dark sounding song that doesn't really hit the mark unfortunately. It's just as well there's the more uplifting rockers to gloss over this, 'Your Time Is Now', 'Love Is All' and 'Into The Quiet Night' back on form, though the latter has a slightly tense feel about it. Proceedings are brought to an end with the big sounding 'Don't Tell Me', pounding drums and some grinding riffs order of the day here, just to finish things off nicely. 'Performocracy' could well be the album that puts The Poodles firmly on the map now, and one thing is definite, you'll be barking mad if you pass up on such a good album and group as this. Review by: Bob Baldwin |
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Tracklisting: 1. I Want It All |
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