| CD REVIEW Black Sheriff |
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Band : Black Sheriff The formation of this Koln (Cologne for those among you with less respect for ethnic details) based German based Power Rock act was officially recorded to have happened on June 5, 2007, when singer/ guitarist Glen Raviloi and guitarist Tom Krämer decided to learn the world what a good Garage Rock band was supposed to sound like (you know, raw vocals, rough guitar play with a Punky attitude, driving rhythms, etc...). With the aid of the quickly recruited Deputy Flo on bass, and of drummer Artur, the duo didn't lose much time, as they convened in a studio as soon as possible, releasing their self-titled on the High Noon label in March 2008! Still, something wasn't quite right yet, and the band leaders concluded to exchanging their bassist for one Mr. Buddy B. Barker, and the “new” formation set out to write and record the best album yet (this one, by the way). Right after the recording of the album however, drummer Artur decided to leave, finding the band's material had geared too much towards a Hard Rock direction, as opposed to the Punk Rock edge he liked about the band's beginnings. As his replacement, the guys drew in Micha “Mr. Major Deal”. I'm not sure whether that happened before or after the guys posted some of the new material on their MySpace page in late December of last year. When asked what they sound like, the band itself would use the fictional story of Guns 'N' Roses boarding a plane with The Dead Boys, Van Halen, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Motley Crüe, The Sex Pistols, and Ozzy, the plane then crashing and exploding into one fuck-off band. That would be Black Sheriff. Ahum...well, there's hardly any “Punk” anymore, as mentioned before, so that leaves out the Pistols & The Dead Boys somehow. In fact, the occasional “Punk” which surfaces occasionally, is rather a Pop Punk one! Then there's definitely no Ozzy, because BS's singer is far rawer than that! Van Halen? The Germans simply ain't that sophisticated! So, that leaves us with a Garage version of Motley Crüe & G'n'R, with some occasional moments of Punky Southern Rock, and a slight smidgen of AC/DC (musically, not vocally, of course – funny detail, when Airbourne were playing Koln around the last New Year, they showed up at a BS show, and partied with the guys until they dropped down stone-drunk) thrown in for good taste. Far from world-shattering, but there's more people out there into this adrenalized type of Garage Rock, than most of us could fathom! For instance, the band announced they hit Music World Radio at #3 in January of late. Not bad, uh? Lyrically, the band talks about certain things they come up against in their life as musicians (opening track “Hi-Fidelity” is apparently about the musician not wanting a steady relationship because he doesn't have the time due to the band's importance to him; “Snakeskin Pillow” about insomnia during touring, “Hold It Tight” is apparently about staying out too long on a booze binge, “We're Comin' Home” about doin' things the band's own way, “Be Alone Tonight” about loneliness...but there's also a couple of mild socio-political/ religion critical songs, like “INRI” and “Monkeys Of Mayhem”). Fans of euhm... Peter Pan Speedrock and the likes? Check out the songs (3 from the debut, and an equal amount off the new one) posted at myspace.com/blacksheriff. It won't have the “semi-ballad” album closer (the “ballad” factor is really restricted to a very calm intro which also includes some soft keyboard play in the background – after that the band is back to its usual Rock antics, although slightly calmer nevertheless). 82/100 Tony. |