As 2024 kicks off, here’s our roundup of releases for a notoriously quiet month.
First up is Zenith, with their heavy heavy Bodycount. And I love this track, for many reasons, ok, well four. Number one, it starts a lot like Deep Purple’s Highway Star, with a very similar Blackmorian guitar tone. Secondly, this track isn’t produced to within an inch of its life. Its gritty, fuzzy and at times it sounds they are playing under a drain cover. But this actually works: it makes it live and exciting. Thirdly, there are some serious guitar heroics going on – akin to Michael Schenker – resulting in top, top riffage. Lastly, the vocals are bang on the money. Bodycount is just over 4 mins of pure iv speed excitement. So stop messing around – get onto Zenith for 2024.
Pleasure Island, the duo of Sean Ekins and Sam Pierpoint, seem to have been bobbing around under the Liverpool music radar for some years now. Which is a shame, as they are really excellent live and Ekins is a very good song-writer, but who seems to be under appreciated locally. What’s the old adage of prophets not being recognised in their own country? Their latest musical offering Evangelion, which is a cynical take on the music industry in general. They play Liverpool’s Heebie Jeebies on 13 January. My recommendation is to catch them if you can, as you won’t be disappointed in the slightest.
And talking of under-appreciated song-writers – Mike Juvenile. His combo KEEF is back with a new boss tune, Adela Road. It is a well-crafted composition, with a pervading theme of melancholic nostalgia which is just so right for this time of year. The shimmering guitar lines fragment into the winter ether, the chorus itself will tug at your heart strings, tears will gently caress your cheeks. Who says looking deep within one’s soul can’t be beautiful?
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Sebastian Saint Morne
