Thundermother – Heatwave
8/10
This makes me happy. Nothing new under the sun regarding the music. New when it comes to Thundermother, yes. Stepping a few steps away from the pure AC/DC inspired rock n´roll music that they have played before this is a more diverse album. Straightforward but broader if you know what I mean?
This might sound like I am contradicting myself? I can live with that. I will explain what I mean with that: Thundermother have previously leaned a lot towards just AC/DC in my opinion. With this album the obvious influences are still there, but the material of lending if you like has a much wider spectrum.
It is full tilt from the start like it should be with ”Loud and Alive”,setting the tone.
This band lives on energy, grows with energy. They now draw it from a lot more sources. The first single ”Driving In Style” for example reminds me of DAD, specifically ”Sleeping my day away”, one of my all time favorite songs.
There are also more songs going towards a more bluesy feel than straightforward party-rock that has been there before, ”Purple Sky” & ”Dogs From Hell” are good examples of this.
What strikes me a lot through the whole album is that I feel I can actually hear in every song that this group are actually having fun doing what they are doing. This shines through in the music for me. All songs are catchy, easy to sing along with and should all go down well in a live set.
What I have found with previous albums are that they work well for the moment, 1 or 2 really good songs, but the whole package lacks somewhat consistency. With ”Heatwave” it is a more full packed delivery of good above average quality.
What I do not like so much is that there is a little ballad (”Sleep”) thrown in there in the middle. The tempo of the album does not need to rest. For me I could have done without it. I would have liked to keep banging my head in approval to the easy access Rock music that comes before and after.
All in all this is a step up in quality for this band and I hope that they can soon get the chance to get on the road to deliver these songs in front of a packed house. This new material suits the stage to a tea.
Well done and keep up the good work.
Band: Thundermother
Title: Heatwave
Label: AFM
Date of release: 2020-07-31
Rate: 8/10
Stand out track: Driving In Style
