Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
From the first spark of the Big Bang through to the inevitable decline of the Universe, some entities in this crazy world just have the aura of absolutely being Unstoppable, that their momentum carries them across the threshold of every door possible, each one may as well be kept ajar, open wide and off the lock, for the relentless and seemingly inexhaustible have a point to prove, that they understand to stem creativity is to kill the dream.
Unstoppable, the march of Time and the band that has much to hold onto, potential screaming with joy at the constant turn of the music maker’s wheel, the clay being fashioned with precision and the injection of The Voodoo Sheiks personality; only when the foot comes off the pedal does the relentless slow down, the artist’s eye looking on with scrutiny for flaws or cracks, relishing the fact that the 12 songs on offer are set and painted, fireproofed and glazed with immeasurable style, this is the pleasure of the final product in which the band have yet again scored highly.
Adrian Thomas, Slowblow Dave, Andy Pullin and Spencer Blackledge take the lion’s roar and give it further strength, the impossible made probable, the low growl that puts fear into the myriad of creatures that surround the lofty rocks in which this particular lord of the jungle surveys, is lifted, made a hybrid of animal and man and the final result is a beast that knows the music it makes is inescapable.
A peak is hard to maintain, there is inevitably the time when the trough comes around, yet this is not the time for such awkward thinking, such inexcusable surrender, for in songs such as Sack of Stones, More Than A Little Bit Twisted, the fantastic and resonating Black Hearted Orange Man, the possibility of hatred aimed at our souls that we all share in Bullets In The Post and Resonator, The Voodoo Sheiks have climbed the mountain with ease, and set their sights on the next highest peak, one in which the lion is sure footed and well equipped to navigate
Nothing is unstoppable except Time, yet as the Voodoo Sheiks carry on and continue in their own march, it seems Time may have a rival for now and the blow for blow of music they inspire is enough to guarantee a smile and hard foot tap of love.
The Voodoo Sheiks release Unstoppable on May 4th.
Ian D. Hall