Knockout Power trio from Oz
Released by Lions Pride
They’ve played Rocklahoma three times, they’ve shared stages with Skid Row, G’n’R and numerous others, yet they remain one of Australia’s worst kept secrets. Ragdoll are a power trio whose name evokes greasepaint and bandanas, but instead we find ourselves knee deep in the dense textures of Kings X & Richie Kotzen territory, occasionally cosying up to Seventies Hard Rock and Nineties downtuned introspection.
Rewound is a Frankenstein fabrication of variously remixed and remastered past recordings carefully bolted together with some lively live tracks to create an engagingly handsome and cohesive whole. The heart of the band is a guitar / bass engine room that pumps out muscular, oily riffs, set to the beat of steamhammer drumwork.
Surprisingly then, it’s slick, and light on its feet. Openers, ‘Here Today’ and ‘Tell Me’ are launched by mazy bursts of fiery axework, in lockstep sync with pugnacious, heat resistant rhythms. As you might expect, the melodies are sturdy and durable, and as you might not, the lyrics are smart, pithy, and deal with real emotions. This music built to last and built to please.
Everyone’s got to work harder in a trio and that’s what they do, whether it’s shouting out a raucous chorus over sweet harmonies (Foot To The Floor), or showing a talent for writing pointed, poetic ballads, then stranding them in a cacophony of guitar noise and rimshot rhythms (Heaven Above & The Feeling).
The four bonus, ‘live-in-the-studio’ tracks comprise of one new song, and a different, more experimental – and not always welcome – approach in the arrangements, dabbling in post grunge and post rock stylings. It’s a philosophy that could easily alienate core fans, while failing to win them any new ones.
8 out of 10
Track list:
- Here Today
- Tell Me
- Could It Be Love
- Heaven Above
- Overnight Sensation
- Foot To The Floor
- The Feeling
- Ashamed
- In My Mind
- Rewind Your Mind (bonus live)
- All I Want (bonus live)
- Tell Me (bonus live)
- Foot To The Floor (bonus live)
