Spill Sixteen – Let It All Hang Out

A little over a year ago, at the end of 2011 I was in Sheffield to see Tyketto, the scheduled support band that night had failed to show at the eleventh hour, this ended up to be a fortunate state of affairs as local band Spill Sixteen were last minute stand-ins. I say fortunate because until that night I’d never even heard of Spill sixteen, a year on and I’ve seen the five piece Sheffield based rock band a few times live and I’m now listening to their debut album ‘Let It All Hang Out’.

Track one ‘Doing It Tonight’ opens the twelve track disc and what a track, it’s old school, a mix of bad Co. and Blackfoot however Spill sixteen are not just a retro rock band, "South Yorkshire's answer to Black Stone Cherry"  is what MelodicRock.com said about them. There does seem to be a resurgence of this style of rock, Rival Son’s are making a big impact along those lines at this moment in time and I see no reason why Spill sixteen shouldn’t also benefit from this current trend. Track two is ‘On My Way’ a more upbeat song than track one with a melodic chorus whereas ‘Come With Me’ is a stomp along rock song which conjures visions of a strutting ‘Jageresque’ singer. Track four ‘So Cruel’ is a 47 second acoustic guitar instro (intro) to ‘Lovedrunk’ a melodic ballad which does have Black Stone Cherry overtones.

Spill Sixteen are Mewsy (Guitar) JJ (Guitar) Stevie (Vcals) Indy (Bass) and Dave (Drums) if you get to see this band play live (and you should) you will marvel at the sound they achieve on stage and you just might recognise lead guitarist Andrew ‘Mewsy’ Mewse, the former Silverjet guitarist is also a current member of Velvet Star, a busy man indeed. The sixth song on the album is ‘We Stand Alone’ it’s a rock anthem, one that Whitesnake would have been proud to have written. Track seven and eight ‘Damned’ and ‘All the Same’ are a bit more down and dirty giving front man Stevie a chance to be a bit raunchier with his vocals. ‘You Make Me Cry’ a heart felt ballad with piano a compliment is one to get your lighters waving to and track ten is ‘By You’ a rocky little number, clap along, shake your tambourine, join in with the ‘gospel like’ backing vocals, whichever floats your boat really. The penultimate song on the album is ‘Kick In The Face’ like most of the songs on this disc it runs at under four minutes, short and sweet. ‘One Way To Go’ is a fine song to bring Spill sixteen’s debut album to a conclusion, slide guitar, harmonica, tinkling piano, Hammond organ, sing along lyrics it has it all. Summing up this twelve track album is well worth £7 of any ones money and you can buy it on line @ http://www.facebook.com/spillsixteenmusic play it loud and ‘let it all hang out’… GD.

Grand Ultra - No Sympathy

Grand Ultra are a four piece hard rock band from the east midlands who have over the last few years been wowing audiences with their live performances. So by late 2012 an astonishing four years after their inception Grand Ultra have finally released their debut CD, the six track ‘No Sympathy’.

For the diehard fans who have followed them from the beginning this disc rewards them with six favourites from the live set, unlike most bands though Grand Ultra haven’t mucked about too much with the studio recordings which means this CD is totally recognisable to what you would hear at a live show, something not all bands manage to achieve. Track one the eponymous  ‘No Sympathy’ is a fine overture of what’s to come the song rattles along at pace and sets the scene for the other five tracks. Tracks two and three are my personal favourites of the disc, ‘Home Is Where The Heart Is’ is a great sing along song with punchy riffs where as ‘Get your Rocks Off’ is an anthemic number designed to get a live crowd up and rockin’. Grand Ultra are Stu Wildey (Bass) Gazz Evans (Drums) Justin Larner (Guitar) and Joe Hill (Vox) their overall sound is driven by Justin’s well crafter guitar riffs and Joe’s powerful ‘old school’ vocal gymnastics, he’s a bit like a latter-day Klaus Meine. Track four is ‘Guns At Dawn’ my least favourite track, followed by ‘Alone Tonight’ which is a lighter song that may well appeal more to the ladies. The finale to this disc is one of the bands most memorable songs, ‘Goodbye Angel’ is a favourite from the live set and with its sing-along chorus and punchy riffs is a fitting end to the CD. Grand Ultra never fail to entertain live and ‘No Sympathy’ is a fitting debut disc for the hard working quartet who thankfully haven’t strayed too far from their live sound on this mini LP. I would highly recommend you acquired a copy time you se them, let’s hope that the follow-up CD is in the pipeline… GD.