Thankfully, in that time, they learnt how to end a song properly! Actually, the opening track (Neighbourhood) is the exception. It has some good moments and establishes the mood nicely, but drags out badly towards the end. And the bridge is very strange indeed.
The recording quality is typical sub-par rockabilly fare. It features woofly and double-bass, and a guitar sound robs the big choruses of their power. Technically, the vocalist struggles a bit, however I really enjoy the lyrics, especially to sing along to. Perhaps the reason is that both of us can't sing very well!
Hector Hell introduces a new style of rockabilly ballads for the band. Based around lyrics which tell a brilliant tale, the style is much like a modern day Johnny Cash. And the power chorus works a treat. The rather simple backing music is the perfect accompaniment- setting the mood of driving through a lonely road in the moonlit mangroves.
Similarly, Shadow in the Sun (no relation to the Audioslave song) is another brilliant piece of Johnny Cash-esque storytelling. This song is on high rotation in my car, and it's an all-time favourite singalong song of mine. The appeal for me is how the bouncy rockabilly, contrasts nicely by the dark tale of a lonesome soul.
Things jump up a few gears with Million Miles Away. This psychobilly thrash is bursting with frenetic energy. The verses are itching to explode, and boy does the chorus explode!
Close Your Eyes is a song that I really dig, but I don't know why. On the surface, it's fairly generic, so perhaps its just that it has been executed so well. A highlight for me is the double-bass playing, which is incredibly intricate. The subtle flourishes of the instruments in the background are great, as is the wailing singalong chorus.
Dead March features a great riff for the verses, but somehow it doesn't "sit" right. It kinda feels like the instruments wants a slower tempo, but the vocals are forcing them to rush. The chorus, though, comes together very nicely.
This Time Last Year and Reaper are nicely hyperactive thrashes, as per Million Miles Away.
Trip to the Moon is pretty much unchanged from their EP. But I don't feel ripped off in the slightest, it means I get to enjoy this wonderful song twice as often!
The jazz track Fortune is an oddball inclusion. But it is a nice ballad, and rounds out the album well.
Maybe this is a sign that I listen to too much rockabilly(!), but to me this album has very unique appeal. The poetry is fantastic and, well, I'm just a sucker for almost all things rockabilly!
Speaking of poetry, since the lyrics for Shadow in the Sun are nowhere to be found on the internet, I thought I'd do a community service by documenting them here:
I dodge my shadows in the night.
I live my life like it's a fight.
Well I don't mean to be cold,
But I rather be alone now than dead.
I watch my words when I talk,
Look over my shoulder when I walk.
Well I'm always ready,
But I don't know what for.
Everyone's got a shadow in the sun.
Might as well face it, cos it's you that cannot run.
It's what you are, not what you will become.
Sometimes I know I can be wrong
Nothin' in life really going on.
Well maybe I don't want to climb too high,
Cos I know that I might fall.
Failure is my greatest fear.
I hear it whisper in my ear.
Well lately I've been feeling
My whole world's really unfair.
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