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Admiral Sir Cloudesley Shovell

Don't Hear It… Fear It!

Written by: EW on 16/03/2013 14:35:29

The name of both band and title of this release suggests something a little odd, a little bit out there, which even by the standards of the recent welcome trend for retro heavy rock/metal bands to gain widespread appeal is the case with Admiral Sir Cloudesley Shovell's debut LP "Don't Hear It… Fear It!". I first came across this Hastings, UK, act in support to Graveyard a year ago and with no prior knowledge hoped rather optimistically there may have been an actual knight of the realm in the line-up; that they are named after this rather interesting chap does little to diminish the quirkiness in my eyes. All the archetype fixtures of the psychedelic/hard rock sound are present: a distinctly audible bass, a small drumkit at the ready with fuzzed out guitar tone, fuzzed out vocals and fuzzed out song structures. Recalling the likes of Cream, Blue Cheer and Sir Lord Baltimore from back int' day, or recent heritage acts such as Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats and Orchid, Admiral mix a very funky beat into their concoction of slow, soulful tunes which primarily use the bass of Louis Comfort-Wiggett as the leading stringed instrument in the name of true rhythm & blues passion.

The influences on show across these nine tracks are many and varied, with opener "Mark of the Beast" bearing as strong a resemblance to Cream as "Devil's Island" does to Sabbath (especially during the extended feel in its concluding half), or "The Last Run" does to the driving rhythms of Blue Cheer and the many frenzied psychedelic solos do to the king of psychedelia himself, Jimi Hendrix. What I am saying here is that the Admiral know their classic rock but have made damn sure to avoid being a mere clone of any one band and for that "Don't Hear It…" is a very worthy listen.

Nodding to the power trio influence of Cream and Blue Cheer most succinctly, "Killer Kane" has the sort of driving riff to it that would make men of a certain age become all weepy and nostalgic. Infact such is the band's own enthusiasm for it we are treated to a brief reprise of it earlier in the release, by way of a tease for what is to come. "Red Admiral Black Sunrise" heads into the fray with that bass again doing some talking - notably during vocalist/guitarist Johnny Gorilla's exuberant solos where pleasingly NO second guitar track has been recorded to fill in the space - before the simple yet effective tactic of an easily sung chorus just pleads you to join in. Whether it is these competently structured songs which rise and fall with the flows of rhythm and chorus or the notable forays into jamming territory as noted in "Devil's Island", "Scratchin' and Sniffin'" or "Beanstew", Admiral display a well-versed intuition in how to vary the dynamics of each song for good effect.

The end result is that we here have another modern act writing tunes that are catchy, interesting and with a genuine sense of depth that is totally absent from the stereotypical Pro-Tools fed act of today. I want to hear from Admiral in the department of certified classic riffing before declaring them a force to be reckoned with in the heritage rock world but I take great pleasure in declaring this a release for all rockfreaks.

Download: Red Admiral Black Sunrise, Killer Kane
For The Fans Of: Cream, Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats, Blue Cheer
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Release date: 28.08.2012
Rise Above Records