Band of Skulls have, if nothing else, set themselves up for a fall by naming their third album ‘Himalayan’. Renowned as they are for huge riffs and no little power, the comparison is a neat one. But, for once, it’s not all that accurate.
It’s true that the trio mine the same retro-rock territory as a number of others, but here they display a more nuanced approach just as they crank up the distortion at any available opportunity.
So, after Russell Marsden and Emma Richardson shout “Where we are going is anyone’s guess” on the album’s opening song, Asleep At The Wheel, we are predictably presented with a lumbering riff cut straight from the same cloth as the rock monsters of the ‘70s. But, the song then takes an abrupt left-turn into an outro more closely associated with ELO’s Mr Blue Sky than anything Sabbath.
Likewise, there’s nothing here quite as bone-crunchingly visceral as the drum lead and chorus of Bruises, a stand out from ‘Sweet Sour’, but there are several moments that recall that song’s beautiful verse harmonies.
Richardson is similarly effective on Cold Sweat, while the title track has a slinky, devilish hook. Even Nightmares, the album’s most lifeless hat tip to arena rock, rallies thanks to a delicate chorus.
These diversions into pop suit Band of Skulls so well, in fact, that some of the more straightforward aspects of the album, the riff-centric chorus to I Feel Like Ten Men, Nine Dead And One Dying, for example, are rendered underwhelming as a result. 'Himalayan' isn't strikingly original, then, but it is often pleasingly effective.
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