Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
Nothing But Wild, it is the answer to how we should be living life, away from the safe, the sedate and the unflappably dull, we should be seeing life as a challenge to be conquered, no matter how limited our resources, how rationed our ability, we must embrace the way of the wolf and be prepared to let everyone know that we are there, our fur bristling in the glow of the moon and the natural urge to bring out the big howl of the melody always enthusiastically signalled.
Nothing But Wild should always be regarded as the dialogue to our lives; there is nothing wrong with being in the shadows occasionally, stepping back and regrouping with the pack, however it must never become the default position to which we simply fester away within. To do so is unforgiveable.
It is a stance that Germany’s hard rockers The New Roses fully endorses, a set of songs that is barely contained by the borders of their new album Nothing But Wild, and one that the listener will understand completely as coming from a position of truth, of actually having been lived rather than being written from a stand point of varied imagination.
The dialogue that comes from the truth may sound harsh to some ears, but in respects to how the art is then portrayed, there is nothing finer, nothing more beautiful, and as songs such as Soundtrack Of My Life, the album’s title track, Heartache, The Bullet, Running Out Of Hearts, As The Crow Flies, Meet Me Halfway and the two bonus acoustic tracks of Fight You Leaving Me and Down By The River play through the mind, the listener will understand that these tracks are open, they have been part of the scene of the band, lived and with the call of the wild pricking the ears and the souls with equal bounty.
It is in this demonstration of truth that The New Roses captivate and open up a new avenue for the rock fan to explore, one that points through the path less taken, but one that is outstanding for its view.
The New Roses release Nothing But Wild on Friday 2nd August.
Ian D. Hall