Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
To see the wreck on the shoreline, fire blazing through its hull, the explosion waiting to happen as the flames get nearer to the gunpowder and the bottles of premium whisky, the mast holding up resolutely and with pride; sometimes you just have to Swallow the inevitable and move back a few feet to take in the bigger picture, the dynamite of Rock that is about to shatter and pulverise the masses into submission; this is exactly what life is for, making the Rock move, to see the Burnt Out Wreck blaze in fury and fire, nothing comes close to excitement as this.
The debut album, Swallow, from Burnt Out Wreck sees Rock mainstay Gary Moat team up with Adrian Dunn, Alex Carmichael, Miles Goodmani and Paul Gray to produce an album of heat, of punchy riffs and tracks that will make the listener gulp deliciously the offering as if it is the last decent, untainted, drink anywhere for a hundred miles. This morsel, fast, furious, ready to consume as each note and lyric consumes the listener, is undeniable, it is the call of the siren on the ragged rocks, the lighthouse black and unforgiving and the small lanterns a few hundred yards inland blazing with their owners awaiting the booty from the hull to crash into the cliffs, that makes it an album of temper, of passion and one that not even Daphne du Maurier could match in writing.
Tracks such as the wonderfully suggestive Pulling It Out, the crunch driven Medusa, Your Love (Is All I Need) and Flames are all pounding with electricity and reminiscent of early Thunder and Whitesnake, the lyrics are worthy of the bounty in the hull of the boat and hammer home the reason why Rock at its greatest is the soundest way to absorb a song, to feel the intensity of the fire that rages in the heart of a group of musicians who truly understand what they have to offer.
Swallow any pride, rid yourself of any negative feelings, Burnt Out Wreck is a glorious band in which to find time with, the lighthouse will surely lead the album to safe and nurturing harbours.
Burnt Out Wreck’s Swallow is released on February 10th.
Ian D. Hall