Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Coming across a set of music that seems to have been sorrowfully neglected by the British public at large is sometimes a rare and agreeable hour of indulgence, the pleasure grows as it takes root and before you know it, the music is as infectious and you begin to feel bad that you never have had the chance to enjoy it before. Such is overall feeling of satisfaction that the listener can lose themselves in on R.O.C.K.S. – Humbucker’s 2011 album.

The music is an amalgam of different bands’ influences that filter through a Norwegian state of mind and what comes out the other end is that rare mix of good British, Australian and American Rock but with the added spirit of the Scandinavian adventurer, the explorers in music who define Nordic tradition of good music but without having to go down the country’s black metal roots.  Take for example one of the premier bands from Britain’s rock heritage Thunder and fuse it piece for piece with AC/DC and add the distinctive tones of some of the harder edged guitar work by George Thorogood and you have an inkling of what Humbucker have successfully melded together whilst retaining the quality of independent musicianship.

If the album had been produced by a British or American rock band, the press on either side of the Atlantic would have gone mad about them; there would have been no slow-down in the way they would have been used by the media. In reality the fact that they have stayed largely underground is a testament to not being swallowed whole by a machine…yet.  Each song struts through the album as if it owns the place and in a way it does, there are some great numbers on R.O.C.K.S. that stick with the listener long after the album has finished. The incredible Priscilla, the catchy Dancin’ Daisy and Doing My Job In A Rock And Roll Band are just three that would have had rocks lovers drooling over their copies of Bad To The Bone, Dirty Love or Thunderstruck in anticipation for the next song.

If possible, if by design or chance you can do so, it would be an added boon to any record collection to pick up the Humbucker’s R.O.C.K.S. album.

Ian D. Hall