23.8.12

Fifteen English Pounds - 'Sin City' (self released) 4/5

Fifteen English Pounds hail from the sleepy town of Evesham, in the English Midlands, a place best known in UK rock circles as being the birthplace of 80's OTT glam rockers Wrathchild. This album is a compilation of various demos the band have issued over the past few years brought together into one rather groovy 10 track collection.

Now FEP play hard edged rock of the old school, and they are rather good at it. Kicking off with the high speed blues rock work out of Sin City (not the AC/DC track), this one just screams along, full of tales of sex, motorbikes and rock and roll excess. You get cuts like Effigy with its frenzied harmonica solo, the air punching anthem of Rock N Roll Heaven, the UFO sounding Human Sacrifice... all great stuff. In fact there isn't a weak track on show at all.

If you wanna draw musical comparisons with the great and the good of rock and roll past then if you think of the likes of AC/DC, and NWOBHM legends like Tobruk, Spider, Idol Rich, Tokyo Blade etc then you will be in the right ball park.

The musicianship here is first rate, it's not trying to be to slick and not trying to be overly cleaver, its just a load of great honest balls out, heads down and see you at the end performances. Vocalist Ade Danby has a powerful and compelling voice that reminds me of Toyko Blades Alan Marsh in places, and g-man Andy Crump has a style that draws comparisons with the late great Gary Moore (just check out Cool Tone to see exactly what I mean). Chuck in a rhythm section that's ducks arse tight and as driven as Lewis Hamiltons McLaren and you have a pretty impressive band that can really deliver the goods.

OK, in places the production is a little rough around the edges, but hell, what do you expect from a small up and coming band on a budget, and this can easily be overlooked.

All in all this is a cracking album from a cracking band that has 'cult hero' scrawled all over it, and one that all discerning lovers of the UK underground rock scene should add to their collections.

Impressive

For fans of... Trucker Diablo, Grifter, Dear Superstar, Iron Claw etc....