The sun is beaming down on my shiny dome and I am wishing I was cruising to the beach instead of on my lunch break. This is not helped by Grifter who provide the perfect soundtrack to a late summer sojourn to the sea in a Chevy Impala (or a Ford Focus saloon ahem).
I owned a Grifter as a lad. I had wanted a Mongoose BMX but my folks took advice from Derek – the bloke who owned the bike shop next door – and I ended up with a Grifter XL . First world problems eh? [I had a Chopper Ed sticking tongue out] This Grifter is no disappointment though. If you like the idea of Clutch, Orange Goblin and ZZ Top in a blender with Blaze Bayley’s vocals drizzled on top then this is for you brother or sister.
Opener Black Gold is a paean to Guinness which gives you an idea that this is not going to be a political straight edge collection. This is good time groove laden rock and rolling metal with more than a hint of patchouli .There is the swagger of Wolfsbane’s debut alongside some chunky riffs and a hook that gets the hips a swaying and the hair (if you have it!) a swinging. “She Mountain” that follows is a declaration of love for a larger lady the likes of which not heard since Acker Dacker penned their tribute. No shouting names of steakhouses between riffs here though. Grifter certainly have a sense of humour but it is not layered on too thick. This is no joke or novelty band despite the levity in the lyrics.
Paranoiac Blues opens with some slide guitar and tales of waiting in mountain lairs. I am expecting some kind of Scissorfight team up here and despite lack of Iron Lung I am not disappointed. Grifter give good hillbilly, channelling in nice bottleneck solo’s and bluesy riffs which are not usually expected from a band from the UK.
Carrie Fisher in the late 70’s. Yum! When “Princess Leia” starts with the line “I’m a man of a certain age….” You know what is coming – a bluesy nostalgic grey haired fantasy about the daughter of Vader. Lyrics about buns in hair and waving buns in the air” seem a little juvenile but fuck it this is meant to be a time warp song not a proto feminist critique of late 20th century cinema. Who hasn’t at some point thought “Take me back to better times – strip the years away” and the heads down boogie at the end is great. The lads take on religion in “Bow Down to the Monkey” with the singing of ‘Enry’s and smoking all of Thailand giving lie to the drawling vocals. The chorus owes more than a nod to Mr Fallon and his Clutch peeps but that is no bad thing. Then the gear shifts as ‘Braggards Boast’ explodes with ZZ Top’s swagger and even a hint of Graves era Misfits. This is the sort of track that you want to have a glass of bourbon in your hand spilling over your fist as you stand one foot on the stage banging your head whilst bar stools fly past your head smashing Wild Turkey mirrors. OK maybe I have over thought this, but like a bar room brawl at 2.26 it is soon over and replaced by more ZZ stylings with ‘It’s not Me It’s You”’ The 4/4 beat and 12 bar riff is hypnotic and is what the music most of us love is based on. ‘Fire Water’ is more of a ballad and a bit of a plodder after the groove that has gone before but many will appreciate the change of pace as Jeff Healey’s melodies meet The Cult at their most yay-yaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!
The band finish off with a Sabbath cover but before we get into that it is time to enjoy the title track. The pace is picked up again as we are invited to give the devil a middle finger and come and see the show. This band will definitely appeal to fans of the New/Old sound alongside those who Clutch Orange Goblin LP.s to their hearts. As such the choice of cover that ends this opus is a little surprising. Fairies Wear Boots is far removed stylistically from the rest of the album. Grifter offer a fairly straightforward cover – it sounds great but offers nothing either to the song or them as a band. It doesn’t spoil the album just does not add anything. It is like being given a Foxes glacier minto after a curry. “ Oh cheers mate – I’ll save that for later”.
Grifter offer a lot of fun and groove and great riffing and left me with a huge smile on me mush – which I reckon mirrors the one that they must have had collectively whilst recording this.
(8.5/10 Matt Mason)
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