Album Details

• Artist: Sonic Rebellion
• Album: Heads We Win... Tails You Lose
• Label:
• Year of Release: 2010
• ME Rating:
• Reviewed by: archelon on 2010-04-12

Remember the days of rock n' roll? I mean, proper rock, the kind that your parents told you they hated when they refused to buy you a guitar, shaking their heads and asking each other "where did we go wrong?". In these modern times of over-supportive 'band mums' and mainstream radio, rock n' roll has lost (I'm at loathe to use the phrase) it's x-factor.

And it seems that Sonic Rebellion have noticed. Their missions statement - "bring powerful, fist-pumping music back to the rock scene with passion, power, and hooks". Simple, but effective. Right from the word go with the guitar-driven "Awake Now", you certainly are. The sound, something like the bastard love child of Buckcherry and Black Sabbath, has an immediacy and it makes you want to move.

Crashing through twelve tracks carried on Andy Smith's gristled voice and a soundscape of six-string power and delicious bass hooks (ye gods!) you simply wonder how you ever lived in the absence of good old-school rock n' roll swagger. "Mad As Hell" and "Think It Through" are great examples - it's pure arrogance music, and just makes you feel awesome. There's even a more sensitive excursion - the delicately-picked "Find My Way". This could have been a huge mistake but it's a triumph here, played so skilfully by Lefty and Dustin Smith. It's a small cocktail haven in the dirty, epic wasteland.

I once saw a man on a train, in a suit, and he was moshing. Just jumping around like an idiot, everyone watching him with a mixture of fear and ridicule. At the time I laughed, but now I know that this is what he must have been listening to. There are probably things not to like here, and returning to retro isn't necessarily a good thing as numerous recent band reunions will testify. But for me this is energy tempered by talent, and that makes it awesome.

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