Band of Skulls - Sweet Sour Album Review

rating: 3

Ever wondered what would have happened if Kings of Leon decided not to make arena anthems and stuck to the blues-rock format that was infinitely better? If so, then Southampton rockers Band of Skulls may be your new favourite band as they release their second album, Sweet Sour. Full of fuzzy basslines, heavily distorted guitar and a huge slab of groove, they help to make up the British rock class of 2012 slowly taking over the world. In the three years since their debut album, the band have found themselves touring all over the globe, to increasingly larger crowds. In spite of this, there is no sense that the band have lost their roots, with the songs having a delicate balance between dance-floor fillers and nostalgic lighters in the air moments. The combination and contrast of lead singers Russell Marsden and Emma Richardson allows this balance to occur, as the choice of singer for each track really helps to dictate the mood of it, allowing the other to provide their own unique backing. The dual-lead singers creates an interesting element to the band, as they clearly have their own individual strengths, and some of the tracks sound like they are being made by a completely different group. One of the first things that will hit you about this album is the riffs. The chorus riff on Bruises gives it an arena-sized feel, and lead single The Devil Takes Care Of His Own is backed by a stomping mid-tempo riff that is impossible to sit still to. These are nothing when compared to album highlight Lay My Head Down, which builds into a monstrous species that hits like a right hand from Mike Tyson. The urge to dance to some of the tracks on this album is incredibly hard to contain, exactly what you want from a bluesy guitar record. Unfortunately, Band of Skulls definitely have room for improvement. Whilst the contrast of lead singers makes for interesting listening, it soon becomes clear that the heavy, riff-based tracks sound eerily similar and the more gentle, tender tracks can have a tendency to be indistinguishable from one another. The talent is there, as evidenced by the musicianship displayed on title track Sweet Sour and the guitar work of You€™re Not Pretty But You Got It Goin€™ On, but for a third release (they€™ve also released an EP, Friends), the band need to focus on their songwriting and structure. The album plays well and is by no means disappointing, but needs a bit more variety to propel it into being something truly great. Sweet Sour is an interesting album on first listen, mostly due to the duel singer dynamic, but the quality of songs is simply not strong enough for it to stick in the memory enough to encourage more than a few repeat listens. Also, the whole thing seems inferior to the output of their spiritual cousins, Black Keys, who are on the verge of world domination. This is a band that Band of Skulls could take inspiration from; they could add bigger hooks without sacrificing any of their integrity and creating pop choruses, simply giving listeners something more to grab onto. Sweet Sour isn€™t an amazing album, but the future is still bright for this band. There is a lot of good stuff to build on here. Band of Skulls - Sweet Sour is available now.