The Invasion Of... 373 mini album Review

"Starting The Invasion Of... was a real leap of faith not only in myself, but the soon to be members of the band. It would have been easier for me to set it up with other musicians from other bands and follow their lead, but instead I decided to get things going with friends, regardless of their musical background. It has worked out better than I could have ever imagined as the musicians I play and work with have surpassed my wildest expectations.

373 is the debut release from The Libertines / Dirty Pretty Things drummer Gary Powell's latest project, the interestingly named 'The Invasion Of...'. The band is primarily composed of of Powell, who here takes on the main composing duties and vocalist Robert Coombes from Hip Hop group Taskforce who brought in his "unique approach to lyric writing".

The album kicks off with The Invasion Of Venice, which constantly changes mood and tone to keep the listener on their toes. Touches of Hip Hop, prog and even some jazzy influences are at play here but there is also an underlying angsty energy, with a hint of rebelliousness and a definite feeling that there is a proper punk ethos bubbling just below the surface.

The second track, Delusional, is again a multi-paced and multi-textural affair, but with the same feeling that below the beautifully produced and polished rock'n'roll there is something altogether harder waiting to burst through. This is an impression enhanced by the lyrical content... "You say I treat you like a fool, I think you're Delusional".

The next two tracks, Memories and Romantic Podantic keep this feeling going. It is clear that each member of this band has brought their own disparate musical influences and abilities to the band and it's a winning mix.

The album builds in intensity as it goes on until finally, almost inevitably, the underlying feelings come crashing to the fore in In Like Voodoo (pop) which is as fine a slice of up tempo punk rock as you could ask for. This new explosion of energy is carried on into the crunchy guitar driven last track, Devilish Ways.

This is not our usual sort of thing at CackBlabbath at all, but there is undeniably something catchy and enjoyable about this band and their music. I know that many visitors to this site will have tuned out at the first mention of The Libertines, but please don't let that connection come between you and a really rather fine release. OK, it's not even remotely Metal, but whatever you want to classify this as, it's good.

free hit counters