For some reason Voodoo Vegas have had comparisons to The Darkness and The Answer but I don’t really see that – these guys are the bastard sons (and daughter) of Guns ‘n’ Roses and they really do rock like the monsters they are!
This album kicks some holy ass from the opening screech of ‘King Without A Crown’ where vocalist Lawrence Case belies his Bournemouth roots to hit a raw bellow like Axl Rose crossed with Glenn Hughes (one of the many artists the band have learnt their chops by supporting). Meryl Hamilton and Nick Brown throw out some superb riffs and the drum and bass combo of Ash Moulton and Matt Jolly drive the thing along like a 26 tonner on ice.
The band don’t have any reservations about their roots and rock with abandon through the whole album – the seven years they have spent putting their sound together has resulted in a super-tight sound without any fluff or filler and they lift the adrenaline effortlessly; by the end of ‘Bullet’ (track two!) I was knackered but there wasn’t any respite as they tore into the hard blast of ‘No More’.
They have picked up hints from all the bands they have supported on their rise – the Bluesey side of Glenn Hughes, the power and headbanging riffery of Uriah Heep and the wildness of the Wildhearts and the audiences of such hard rock heavens as Germany and Belgium have taught them how to structure their sound – the result is a blast through the entire 34 minutes of this album without letup or waste.
The album was financed through Pledge Music with the band attracting 344% of their original call after smashing through their target in 24 hours. It meant that they could afford producer Paolo Ferreira (Joe Strummer, Enter Shikari, Therapy?, The Darkness) and an album cover by Jim Boswell and between them they manage to sum up their rawness and commitment to the rock in the image of Jimmy Silver and the raw edge to a band with greatness within their grasp.
