Review by Jason Guest
With a band name like Admiral Sir Cloudesley Shovell and an album cover upon which sits a bird-headed man, you’d be forgiven for thinking they are a bunch of Zappa/Beefheart-worshipping eccentrics with a twisted sense of humour and shall we say, “no agenda”. Well, you wouldn’t be far from the truth. Supping on the psychedelic 60s and plundering the progressive 70s, Admiral Sir Cloudesley Shovell’s heavy stoner grooves are laced with the spirit of Black Sabbath, Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Hawkwind, Blue Oyster Cult, etc. etc. etc.
Irresistible and infectious, the bluesy psychedelic space rock mixes free-form jams with great writing and hard-hitting grooves, all the time the band cranking it up to eleven and kicking out the jams. With his mojo fast a risin’, vocalist Johnny Gorilla is a lunatic on the mic, his shredded, throaty roars the perfect complement to his killer riffs and his furiously intense solos that explode from out of nowhere. With such a loon for a frontman, Bill Darlington’s drumming is spiked with manic Moon/Ward/Mitchell influences, an arsenal of sounds that he readily calls upon to provide a solid foundation and many a colourful rhythm. And melodically farting along in the bottom end is bassist Louis Comfort-Wiggett, his sound as heavy as a flatulent elephant’s first dump of the day and his lines as funky and grooving as the four-stringed lovechild of James Brown and John Bonham. And with the production lending the album that kind of warm, dirty, vintage sound, you’ll be digging out your bell bottoms and growing the kind of sideburns that would make Wolverine seethe with envy.
8 out of 10
Track listing:
- Mark of the Beast
- Devil’s Island
- iDeath
- Killer Kane (Reprise)
- Red Admiral Black Sunrise
- Scratchin’ & Sniffin’
- The Last Run
- Killer Kane
- Bean Stew
