The Heavy – The House That Dirt Built
(Counter Records)
This album is a logical extension of, rather than a continuation of, The Heavy’s debut LP Great Vengeance and Furious Fire. Whilst tracks like -That Kind Of Man’ on their debut showed glimpses of their potential, the follow up crams it all neatly into ten exciting tunes.
From the outset there is more depth and variety of sound which, whilst still retaining the soul feel, adds a wealth of reggae and driving blues rock into the mix. Previously James Brown shone through, but now there are aspects of The Doors and The Black Keys or even the proto punk of MC5 (-Oh No! Not You Again!!’). There is even a strong attempt at a downbeat reggae sound on the excellent -Cause For Alarm’.
Whilst Kelvin Swaby’s vocals, at points, are very shrill and almost falsetto (-Short Change Hero’) they are, at other points, deeper, more mature and controlled (-How You Like Me Now?’). -Sixteen’ is possibly in the vein of Amy Winehouse’s Back In Black, but the track stands up on its own along side similar tracks like -Love Like That’ as having an all-embracing sound similar to classic 60′s girl groups.
Overall, there is a great variety in this work. One thing is for certain – each of these tracks will compliment their already blistering live set.
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