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Artist: Swampfreaks |
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When
he’s not the sound guy at Trillian’s Rock Bar in Newcastle, Hilly is
teaming up with long time pal Andrew Mac McDermott of former Threshold
and now Powerworld frontman along with Gav and Chris under the
SwampFreaks moniker. This
album takes up where the 2009 EP left off; seven more groove filled rock
songs join those six tracks that were on the EP. The
album get's underway with ‘Gator’, from the off it's groove filled
Classic/Hard Rock, a million miles away from the Threshold and the
Powerworld power metal stuff Mac is perhaps better know for, but this is
just a short step away from his Sargent Fury days, and to be honest Mac
could sing the phone book and make it sound melodic. This is pure groove
filled rock that just has that 70’s bass ridden vibe, that makes for a
wonderful warm sound that just makes you want to dig out some flares and
get you funk on. ‘Plastic’
is the first of the songs that didn’t appear on the EP, again a big
chunky bass line runs through the entirety of this one, along with a
tuned down guitar lick courtesy of Hilly, which drives this one ever
forward. But of course the real joy of this one is Mac’s superb vocals
as he delivers the perfect classic rock vocal, melody rich and as smooth
a baby’s you know what! This
album is jammed to the brim with chunky grooved filled rock as the album
continues with the thumping ‘Strange Brew’. Again Mac’s
vocals just fill the track with such an air of melodic power, which has
always been his forte. Llike I said before, the guy could sing out
the names in the phone book and make it sound melodic. The
tempo is picked up with the solid rocker ‘Monkey In Yer Bed’, this
one I could play time and time again, it has such a great chorus line
and more groove filled harmonies than you can shake a stick at ... or in
this case a banana at ... (monkey get it!), then it's time to bring it
back down with the mellow ‘Broken’ as Mac brings in his A-game to
this gentle rocker. The
pace is picked up once more with the funko-metal vibe of ‘If The
Light’ and the excellent ‘Crumble Pie’. The latter being one
of my tracks of the album as it just rocks and that’s all I need to
say! Then we get a little Stevie Salas with the funky jazz rock mix of ‘The
Grunge’, before bringing a little heavier feel to proceedings with
‘Come Undone’, featuring a stunning mix of heady bass and tuned out
guitars. This one has single written all over it. I would
have put the last song ‘Come Undone’ as my favourite off the album
but it comes a close second to the fantastic ‘Tiny People’, this is
just twist the whole funk o' metal vibe around and mixes it with some
great melodic moments in this multi-layered masterstroke. The
tempo is brought down with the haunting and moody ‘Fell to Ground’,
before being picked up big style with the excellent rocker ‘Bad
Thing’. The album comes to a close as it started with a big
grooved rocker in ‘Follow Me’, which rounds off a great album that I
could listen to time and time again and will do. No matter what
your musical inclinations, you can't but admire the sweet sweet groove
of the SwampFreaks. Never has the bayou been so tempting because if this
is the music of the swamps, then grab yourself a gator and trip the
light funktastic. |
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Tracklisting: 1.
Gator |
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