Genre: HARD ROCK
Release date: Out Now
Released by: Listenable Records
Line up:
Rusty Brown – Vocals,
Pete Robinson – Guitar and vocals,
Alex Raunjak – Bass,
Brett Wood – Guitar and vocals,
Paul (Spyda) Marrett – Drums,
Tracklist:
- Gimme Love
- Hold onto What You Got
- How Do You Do It
- Sorry Baby
- The Way You Make Me Feel
- It’s Alright
- Long Long Day
- Woman
I may be ridiculously behind on the release date for this one but I will be eternally grateful that this absolute gem of an album didn’t slip through my fingers altogether.
While there have been a couple of EP releases in the interim, Melbourne rockers Electric Mary haven’t released a studio album since III back in 2011 and from the opening track it is clearly evident that this one was worth the lengthy wait.
The opening riff and upbeat percussion on the first track “Gimme Love”, left me with little doubt that this was going to be a kick ass, no nonsense, rock release. The strong, raspy vocals, catchy lyrics and tempo had me reaching for repeat but this is a recurring theme throughout the album.
“Sorry Baby” lightens up the mood somewhat, with a softer hiatus without losing the edge and features some amazing guitar riffs. It is a notably more melodic, emotive track and one of the highlights for me.
“Its Alright”, opens with a detached vocal sound coupled with a laid back guitar vibe before transforming into something considerably heavier – a superb track which hints of both originality and familiarity, while “Long Long Day” is a stunning, long, slow tease of a song which builds velocity towards its conclusion, winding up in a fantastic, spiraling guitar riff and is demonstrative of the vocal and musical strengths of the band.
Its an unfortunate fact that so many Aussie bands suffer unfair comparisons to certain rock giants but in this could surely never be in the case with Electric Mary who have undeniably put their own stamp on the Australian rock scene and to their credit are not readily comparable to any other act.
This band are perhaps not as well known on this side of the pond as they deserve to be and with a release of this quality and an equally impressive back catalogue it begs the question, why? ‘
Mother’ is an album back to back with superb and distinctly diverse, yet hard hitting tracks absolutely begging for repeat play. The band clearly have a winning formula and if I had to pick fault with anything on the album it would be that it simply isn’t long enough.
Score: 10/10
Review: Karen Hetherington
About Author
