Rating: RRRR
Label: Off Yer Rocka Recordings
Review By: Alan Holloway
After seeing them live a couple of years ago, I sort of
forgot about Belfast
boys Trucker Diablo, just remembering that they had been a great live band.
Apparently they went on indefinite hiatus last year, but the force of rock is
too strong in these ones and they’re back with a surprisingly mature yet still
balls out third album that deserves a wider recognition than it will probably
get.
At their core, Trucker Diablo make kick ass heavy rock,
often similar in style to the stuff Nickelback used to do so well before they
go so shite. To dismiss TD as Nickelback-lite would be doing them a great
disservice, however, as they are so much more than that. ‘Rise Above The Noise’
features several big, catchy rock tunes, my personal favourite being ‘Girl In
The Photograph’ which is an unashamed tribute to Thin Lizzy, with a wonderful
twin guitar melody and fantastic chorus. ‘We Stand Strong’ is a chest beating
romp that brings The Poodles to mind but is better, whilst ‘Party Like They
Started The End Of The World’ does just what it says on the tin.
Elsewhere, we see the other side of Trucker Diablo, most
notably in ‘Where Angels Fly’, a soulful ballad that would bring a tear to a
Lemmy’s eye, and ‘Take Me To The River’, which again slows the pace but adds a
Southern Delta blues edge as well as a satisfying crunch. The thing about
Trucker Diablo is that the very last place you would expect them to come from is
Ireland,
their sound is so worldly. The band are tight, vocalist Tom Harte has a
powerful and emotional voice, and in all honesty there’s not a duff song here.
They’ve moved on from being a party hearty band into something more structured,
and it’s a successful move. ‘Rise Above The Noise’ is a very accessible album that
shows a band who have matured but are still very capable of rocking till they
drop. Highly recommended.
These fellas are the business!!
ReplyDelete