Unlucky for some?
Falkirk based punk rock ‘n’ rollers Thirteen launch their latest album Controversy at the end of June. Fans of the band will be familiar with a few of the tracks, with Tattered Sleeve, We Will Overcome and Spirit of Resistance taken from their EP of the same name as the latter. It hasnt been an easy ride getting this album made with Dolly sans band-mates at one point.
Controversy…ain’t what it used to be
It hasnt stopped him getting a solid album together. Dolly gives us another ten tracks in the same raucous rebellious spirit as the EP. Expect a full-on aural assault from the off as Thirteen launch into their anthemic rock music with a punky edge on album opener Controversy, riffs abound, infectious middle eight and chorus. “Controversy ain’t what it used to be…”
The theme is repeated throughout the album, tasty hooks and riffs, with thumping rhythm section, continuing into Wannabes, Has-beens and Ne’er Do Wells, adding effective slide to the mix, overall creating a crunching beast of a tune.
Golden Years
One of my favourite moments on the album occurs when Dolly moves into reflective mood on Golden Years still no let up on the pace, thumping drums and intense guitars though. “Looking back they were the Golden Years…we never thought about tomorrow…Do you believe we live forever?” Talking of reflection, 10,000 Record Sleeves has Dolly looking back on songs and records that have had an impact and influence on him, have fun spotting all the references in the lyrics made up from various song titles…I’ll leave you to come up with your own lists.
Brighter Than the Sun
Other highlights for me are two fingers to the world trashy-punk of Do What You Wanna Do, the ’77 punk sneer of (We are) The Maladjusted where Dolly seems to channel Billy Idol, and the epic Brighter Than the Sun, its choppy guitar intro opening up to reveal a soar-away tune and a sensitive lyric that only those with the hardest of hearts couldn’t relate to. The positioning of the Maladjusted and Brighter tracks one after the other actually had me thinking of one of the fallen. RIP Garry Alexander Borland.
Hope
Pick of the bunch for me though is also probably the slowest track on the album. No less fervour for that though. The track is a slow burner, building to a passion filled chorus. A call to arms for the lonely and alone to come together, a beautiful song of hope. We will overcome, we will not succumb, together we are strong. The song also had me thinking of Mike Peters, it could almost be an unofficial follow up to The Alarms Strength, mainly from a lyrical sense – “Give me Strength so I might find a way, Give me Love to keep the wolves at bay, Give me Hope so I might face a brand new day” echoing the words from Strength also used for Peter’s music centric cancer charity the Love Hope Strength Foundation.
An album that has a bit of something for everyone, and which would sound great in the live arena.
Speaking of which, Thirteen is currently looking for a drummer. I think at the time of writing, this may be happening, however, if you are a drummer looking for a band and are handy for the Falkirk area, go on, get in touch, I’d love to see these songs played live…