Ever
since The Fumes exploded onto the Aussie rock scene in 2004 with a self-titled
EP and the critically-acclaimed debut album 'Guns Of Gold' in 2006, the infamous
blooze-rock duo have left slack jaws, ringing ears and wagging tongues in their
wake. But in the case of geetar-slinger and mighty-bearded vocalist Steve Merry
and drumming prodigy Joel Battersby, the gushing is with good reason. Not so much
making a name for themselves as branding it in the consciousness of punters nationwide,
The Fumes have pursued a constant regimen of touring.
Now
comes The Fumes' second album, 'Sundancer'. Produced by Detroit-based garage-auteur
Jim Diamond (The White Stripes), the album not only sees them hone their dirty
blues-rock aesthetic, smokin' grooves and classic '70s-style gritty rawk, but
capture perfectly the ferocious, stripped-down aural assault they deliver live.
In trademark style, they've come out swinging. 'Who Do You
Love', the fuzz-laden barnstormer that kicks off their sophomore record 'Sundancer',
is all gristle, brawn and brawling swagger. Riff-maestro and ragged-throated frontman
Merry lays down the massive drop-tuned guitarwork, roaring out his lines, while
cohort Battersby literally beats the living shit out of his kit. It sounds just
like the band does live: raw, volatile, and dangerous.
The
Fumes deliver on 'Sundancer' and is all the more impressive because of their two-piece
status. After such a blistering opener comes the venomous 'Slay The Liar', where
Joel pounds out a leviathan-sized beat to Steve's thumping piano line - not so
much tinkling the ivories but punching them with his fist. In typical style, the
chorus erupts with another huge riff and Steve's throaty snarl, before a sexy,
sinuous reprise unfolds, Steve sounding like he strings his battered Fender with
underground coaxial cable, dripping with tar, mud, and blood.
'The
Letter' is all truck-stop blooze, pentatonic licks and tasty grit, with a slide
sound to die for, while 'Python For A Pillow' is urgent and serpentine in the
way it rolls out under Joel's skittering drum line, before ramming home big time
and displacing air en masse. "I think it's my favourite track," says
Joel. "I love playing it."
Steve's fave is 'High
City Lights', a song where Joel's tom-line sounds like it's being beaten out on
a piece of corrugated iron, as the singer's graveled rasp and slow-burn licks
build in intensity, then open up into a call'n'response cameo from female vocalist
Marihuzka Larenas-Esquivel. "Artistically,' High City Lights' is the one
I'm most proud of," he says. "It came out exactly like I heard it in
my head, a kind of mixture between rock'n'roll and blues. Production-wise, it
has this meld of sounds, especially with the female vocal."
The
frontman is equally chuffed with 'Never Gonna Get Back Home', a bruised, mournful,
Tom Waits-esque piano tune. "I always wanted a piano, and last year I finally
got one and spent a bit of time plonking away at it. I'm stoked to get a song
like it on the album 'cos it was the first song I wrote on piano."
With
Steve's fiery licks and cotton-field holler, 'Cuddle Up With The Devil' is more
straight-down-the-line, incendiary blues - not so much twelve-bar blues, but a
pub-crawl through twelve moonshine-hawking speak-easies. Psychedelic Warlord moves
from a cantering, countryish bluegrass-style chirrup to the guitar to a thrash-punk
gallop in the chorus. Fun, brutal stuff that closes with a swollen, sanguine slide-line,
before the straight-up swinging rock ode 'Rogue River Woman' arrives, bristling
with muscular melody. "It's probably the most poppy song on there,"
enthuses Joel. "But I like that - I'm a sucker for a bit of pop."
The
album's title-track, 'Sundancer' is a mellower, more melancholy affair that meanders
along like a late afternoon, muttering a sad, husky vocal over broken, dirty arpeggios.
The albums winds up with the head-nodding, mesmeric sway of 'Seven Year Itch'
- with it's slow-burn snarl, rock-steady drumbeat and Hammond howling in the background,
it's blues custom-made for a bikie bar. All beard, beer-gut and bad mood.
'Sundancer'
was recorded at Megaphon studios in Sydney with producer Jim Diamond (White Stripes,
Electric Six), mixed by Diamond in Detroit USA, and mastered by Don Bartley. 'Sundancer'
is the follow up LP to The Fumes debut 'Guns Of Gold' (July 06).
Track
Listing:
1. Fat
2. Who Do You Love
3. Slay The Liar
4. The Letter
5. Python For A Pillow
6. High City Lights
7. Never Gonna Get Back
Home
8. Cuddle Up The Devil
9. Psychedelic Warlord
10. Rogue River
Woman
11. Sundancer
12. Seven Year Itch
www.myspace.com/thefumesoz
'Sundancer'
is available now through MGM Distribution.
