The Admiral Sir Cloudesley Shovell - Check 'Em Before You Wreck 'Em - Download (2014)

Labels: Rise Above
Review by: Alex Deller

Dug the last/first LP from these 70s-obsessed louts a lot but for some reason never got round to reviewing it. Shame on me, etc. This one maybe doesn’t grace those same giddy heights but is still a whole lotta rock n’ roll fun, loaded with riffs, licks and howling, hairy rock god strut. Where they succeed, I think, is in their clear grasp of vibe. There’s absolutely no sense that this is homage or pastiche, the album instead dripping with authenticity as though out of time (born too late?) and refusing to acknowledge the past 40 years ever happened. There’s also a real wantonness on display: things are tight, but only to a point – feel and guts rule the roost rather than slavish, knob-twiddling attention to detail. Whether hurtling along or slowing things up (as per the ominous ‘Captain Merryweather’) things are tremendous fun and thoroughly satisfying, particularly if battered LPs by Budgie, The Groundhogs, Led Zep and Sir Lord Baltimore have as big a place in your heart (and your record collection) as they do mine.