When Band of Skulls first erupted onto the music scene with their eponymous singles, ’Fires’ and ‘Death By Diamonds and Pearls’, they made their blues infused statement from the off. It was everything The Black Keys had taught with veins streaking down alongside the likes of Black Rebel Motorcycle Club and The Raconteurs. They took what is quite an American sound and put a UK touch to the sound. For a trio, they had the kick of a mule as their sound began to fill the small venues and earned them slots supporting The Black Keys and Red Hot Chilli Peppers; this began to prove their worth in huge arenas and stadiums. What was miraculous though was how at ease they appeared on such big stages and more to the point, how their sound actually suited the larger venues more. Expansive sounds from Baby Darling Doll Face Honey transposed throughout Sweet Sour and more recently, Himalayan. What the first two LPs taught us was that Band of Skulls can really nail the blues, garage influence. They wrestled with fuzz and welting drums and came out the other side, scratched in leather with some swelling gut of a song that carried all it promised.
However, with Himalayan, it seemed something really clicked. The trio had discovered their sound and now they had begun to understand how it can be rocketed towards the masses, launched off huge stages rather than the small and intimate. Where some band seek the tightly packed venues, Band of Skulls now had an artillery packed with the likes of ‘Asleep At The Wheel’ and ‘Hoochie Coochie’, songs that demanded open spaces.
By Default takes from this lust of the vast and open from the off. ‘Black Magic’ takes that signature sound of the first album a little closer to heart than Himalayan ever did. For the large parts of the opening song, it sounds as if it could easily be placed upon Baby Darling asides from the polish that has appeared upon, some alien lacquer of perfection. It suggests that this is the market that Band of Skulls are targeting towards now, everything sounds a lot fuller, a lot more perfected; you could perhaps say a lot more fit for the purpose of arenas and stadiums. Any previous suggestion for happy accidents or a lo-fi feel are entirely stripped back. ‘Back of Beyond’ takes from this with it’s class rock jive, it packs the 70s styled blues pattern that would make the likes of Steppenwolf and Marc Bolan smile. It’s similarly the type that falls into this mid-category that gets branded too frequently as ‘dad-rock’ by either ironic students or embarrassed teenagers. It’s exceptionally clean once more, danger certainly does not seem to be on the priority list of the trio this time round.
Whereas with Himalayan, Band of Skulls were still largely an exciting band, they were a band that were discovering their groove and how they could make their sounds grow. What By Default offers by the high and large is a jab at the vanilla ice cream and it all comes out a little too diluted occasionally. It’s very, very safe. Singles such as ‘So Good’ put together lethargic, tried and tested 80s styled guitar sounds that offer little more than the potential for a reigniting of the old ‘Sex On Fire’ syndrome. Too many middle-aged blokes with bumbags, sun cream on the end of their nose and a cheap pair of M&S Bluewater khaki shorts.
‘Killer’ stands as the other single previously released, it finds it’s parallels with an older Band of Skulls sound but you can’t help but get the sense that as a group, they are somewhat confused about their sound and where it should go. For an album that really cried out for them to put together something new and distinct from their previous sound, ‘Killer’ just generally does not offer what a single requires. The groove is sub-par, and the hook is naked. Admittedly it is a stripped back sound but, due to the surgical cleanliness, theres no sound to get washed in the sparsity. It’s largely quite soul-less.
This is not to say the album is all bad though. Where Band of Skulls demonstrate their best material on By Default lies behind the unturned stones. The previously tested waters that push their sound down a slightly more diverse style, the likes of ‘Tropical Disease’ that rest upon samba styled drum patterns. Guitars lure over the top and even in their polished format pose the sensibility that would fit them into Bond soundtracks. As a song it has the presence and the swagger of a panther, it’s got a tight knit groove that plays around with style, as they turn to new ventures. Elsewhere, ‘This Is My Fix’ lends itself to the newer Black Keys style, that disco infused modulated sound that begs for a remix somewhere down the line from some star-studded producer. Sound wise, it is not particularly new or innovative, particularly for a band such as Band of Skulls that have worn their influences so prominently upon their sleeves in the past – however, it finds that groove and hook that is unfortunately absent on the majority of material.
Parts of By Default really pull on heartstrings, this often showing the tight-knit relationship that the trio seem to present. Put forward in ‘Little Momma’, it is when Marsden and Richardson tie their harmonies together, they find a real pendulum effect that adds an underlying dynamic to the best of their work. It’s odd how the album is largely at it’s best towards the back-end, the general theme of putting the best first falters in this instance as Band of Skulls put together a ramshackle 70s blues tribute front that all sounds horrendously polished and insipid. ‘Something’ as a closing track, potentially stands as the best on the album. It’s cool wash plays delicately with Marsden’s vocal, the rocking of the guitar, bass and drum gives it that late night tales feel, it’s lullaby effect is beautifully lethargic.
By Default on the whole though, is far from ambitious. For an album that was really going to put the proof in the pudding, Band of Skulls tragically seemed to falter somewhere with what they were promising. It sounds slightly confused and schizophrenic, giving the image that Band of Skulls are far from comfortable in their own skin right now. Himalayan promised so much with it’s production but the polish on By Default is largely quite unsavoury; the tension and angst that used to provide such a great platform for soul and passion is eradicated. It seems that somebody has a vague idea of how Band of Skulls are going to move forward in this world of music, as a live band they certainly pose the potential to be a big name headline act at some point but, By Default does not seem to be the answer to it. Separating the good from the bad seems to be the challenge on By Default and arguably, you could cut it right down the middle.
Tom Churchill
Gritty, scuzzy, primeval rock'n'roll out of the mists of time. This is what the Band of Skulls sound could be characterised as, an essentially primitive baseline of guitar, bass and drums, barely deviating from the raw emissions that emanated from the mid 50s onwards; from Elvis Presley and Carl Perkins to The White Stripes and Black Keys, and all points in between. Whenever or whoever delivers it, the finest rock'n'roll is an essentially timeless slice of groove, beats and melody; just like the BBC's online recipe store it may be creaking with the sheer volume of it all (and there are really too many recipes for that simplest of dishes, spaghetti bolognese) but with the best cuisine, it's what you do with the ingredients that really matters. If the ingredients are the components, then the songs are the final dishes. And very tasty they are.
By Default is the Southampton band's fourth album, and while the initial garage blues-rock vibe of their impressive debut album Baby Darling Doll Face Honey, and especially the breakthrough follow up, Sweet Sour, is very much part of the band's sound in 2016, there is now a general refinement of that early rawness, the band decidedly stretching out of their comfort zone, dipping their toes into the overlapping waves of rock music in general.
Yes, the band crush us with their painfully hipster sounding Black Magic, a song that begins with drilling drums, much like a tinny electro hip hop track of the 80s, before heading straight into their trademark, unified bass and guitar riffing, where Lez Zep meets Royal Blood, a catchy chorus lifting the song off. Similar results are pulled off for Killer, but here as in elsewhere we get a more sophisticated Band of Skulls, the big Royal Bloodesque chorus nestling in with the guitar staccato riff that lays the foundation for the verse. And later on Little Mamma and Embers are bruising garage rockers that strip all pretence away for some unfussy bluesy-rock.
And then there's Bodies, with lead vocals taking on a strained Billy Corgan, a straightforward if melodic indie-pop tune, with what sounds like a xylophone in the mix (!) plus a couple of retro-glam stompers; the driving, upbeat, and distorted bass driven Back of Beyond, as well as the more playfully menacing vibes This Is My Fix, complete with Marc Bolan-style sleazy sneer!
Elsewhere, Tropical Disease’s retro-cinematic quality is a good example of the band trying different things out, the groovy 60s film soundtrack vibe, complete with a little samba percussion, Emma Richardson and Russell Marsden singing in unison. Emma then takes over lead vocal duties for the gentler So Good which morphs into a funky workout for the chorus; and on the title track, the band take such a detour that they don’t sound like Band of Skulls any more, at turns balladic and experimental, as they do on the CD’s hidden track, Something.
By Default is the result of the band taking an extended break after the touring that followed they third album, Himalayan, turning their attention fully to writing, and coming up with, according to Russell, a hundred songs. With Gil Norton (Pixies, Foo Fighters) at the helm, there is an adventurous spirit here within the album’s 12 eclectic grooves, with no filler in sight. Showing that there is plenty of life in the age-old format of guitar, bass and drums, Band of Skulls demonstrate once again that with their collective approach to songwriting, allied to a deep knowledge of what makes a song work, and applying little moments of inventiveness and leftfield imagination, they are one of the best guitar bands out there.
Jeff Hemmings
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Read our Spotlight on Band of Skulls: http://brightonsfinest.com/html/index.php/spotlight/1469-band-of-skulls