By Monk
I must admit that the first thing that drew me to this, the latest full-length offering from the French garage rockets, was the artwork. It reminds me so much of the posters (and subsequently DVD cover art) those cheap ‘n’ nasty Cayman Classic ‘B’ movies that hold such a place in my heart, mainly because of their cheesy, “so bad they’re fucking incredible” qualities… Was this the musical equivalent? Well, there was only one way to find out, wasn’t there?
What Chris Rolling and his squad of musical miscreants actually deliver is a collection of 14 punchy, in your face, foot-tapping and beer-spilling psychobilly-infused punk ‘n’ roll tracks that most definitely wouldn’t sound out of place on a Rodriguez or Tarantino soundtrack: you can just see the bullets fly to the impetus of opener ‘Wild Time’. That title alone summarizes this high-octane album perfectly, as it is indeed a wild rock ‘n’ roll ride from beginning to end. You can’t help but be ‘Trapped Inside’ as CR and the crüe ‘Bring Down The Hammer’ and take you ‘Straight Down To Hell’, as the pace gets ‘Faster’ and you find yourself foaming at the mouth like a ‘Crazy Little Boy’ who wished he was ‘Staying Home With Mommy’ – but, then, she’s cranking up the volume and putting the needle back to the beginning, as ‘Boom’, she can’t help herself…
If you’re looking for one of those pat musical comparators that so many lesser websites like to use, then think Volbeat with the accelerator held to the floor with a concrete block and the brake cables conveniently snapped. But, while speed is of the essence for this rolling squad, it is not presented at the expense of the quality of the song writing, or the performances, as there is plenty going on, and everything is delivered with passionate precision, with loads of hummable melodies bursting through and embedding themselves in your aural cortexes.
‘Cannonball Holocaust’ is one of those glorious punk ‘n’ roll albums that you just take at face value. What it does is set out to entertain for its duration, and then have you reaching for the repeat button to undergo the entire experience again. And in that it succeeds. Brilliantly. An essential purchase for all garage dwellers.
- ‘Cannonball Holocaust’ is out now. You can get your copy HERE.
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