CD REVIEW: BRIAN JAMES – The Guitar That Dripped Blood

CD REVIEW: BRIAN JAMES – The Guitar That Dripped Blood
Easy Action
18 July, 2015
Reviewed by Shane Pinnegar
8/10

Brian James has amassed an impressive body of work since leaving The Damned after their second album flopped. Albums with Lords Of The New Church, The Brian James Gang, Brian James Grand Cru and others are all out there, but this offering is his third under his own name.

Here he is still gloriously true to his low-fi punk roots: raw as a cocktail of broken glass and battery acid, there is no doubt his guitar would be dripping blood after recording this, such is the shredfest on offer.

The ten tracks here have all the disgruntled intensity of 1976. James’ fire remains undimmed, whether he’s ranting about salvation (Hail Mary), difficult women (Baby She Crazy) or his own bad reputation (Becoming A Nuisance – featuring a guests spot by ex-Dead Boys guitarist Cheetah Chrome, Mean Streak).

At times sounding like a ‘60s garage band jamming (‘Til The Rains Come), at others like a disintegrating Stooges rehearsal (Hindsight), the magic lies underneath the roughed-up, all-guts-no-glory delivery and the snarled/slurred vocals.

James’ bad attitude rock n’ roll and shard-of-glass guitars ain’t pretty, but it is intoxicating. Through his innate sense of melody and devil-may-care approach to music-for-pleasure (HIS pleasure first and foremost), the spirit of rock n’ roll lives on.

Category: CD Reviews