By Monk
If ever an album title tells you everything you need to know, it is that of this, the third album from one of the inappropriately and ironically named bands in this hoary old rock ‘n’f’n’ roll Überverse. Yet again, Gary Moat proves that he is no Burnt Out Wreck and has come exploding out of the traps with the most personal, powerful, erudite and lucid album of his 40+ year career in the business of making, well, deeply personal, powerful, erudite and lucid rock ‘n’ fuckin’ roll…
‘Stand And Fight’ is an album as defiant as its name. A declarative and intentive statement of belief from a true rock ‘n’ roll warrior, who has had everything that this business has chucked squarely in his face and has come out the other side with his feet planted firmly in the centre of the squared circle, his horns raised and his voice screaming “come and get me ya bastids”.
From the opening challenge of ‘Big Up Yourself’ into the defiant title track and the suitably strong ‘Lion’, BOW prove that they ‘Ain’t Done Nothing Wrong’ when it comes to standing up for the rock ‘n’ roll cause. In fact, ‘More Than Anything’ they are channeling all the ‘Pain And Suffering’ we all feel into one massive, cathartic release – and that’s before you hit the two absolute killer tracks, ‘Blood Sweat And Tears’ and the grand finale of ‘I’m A Loser Too’.
The former is an absolutely huge stomper, more in the Saxon mien with a genuinely impassioned vocal that really delivers its message with more force than a cornered wolf and oozes defiance from every pore of Moat’s battered body, while the latter (which is preceded by the heaviest song the band have ever recorded, the OverKill-infused ‘Take It Or Leave It’) injects a suitably ironic Slade-esque groove which accents and highlights the dark undertones of most of what has preceded it. To find such joy in darkness is a beauteous capability.
A certain other media outlet eschewed the platitude of BOW copying the “strictly not-broke AC/DC template”. Well, you know what? So fucking what? If it ain’t broke, and it still motors down the M1, why feckin’ fix it? As long as artists such as Gary Moat stand and fight for the spirit of rock ‘n’ roll I will be by their side, fighting for the cause with the passion and pride they and I feel each and every day. Together, we stand. Together, we fight.
- ‘Stand And Fight’ is out now. You can get your copy HERE.
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