ROCKAFELLA
- Rockafella (High Beam)
Wow - a little EP that packs a Rock Action punch. The bio namedrops Jon Spencer and the Stooges, but the comparisons just don't do this Wollongong five-piece justice. It's a cross between Jesse Hector, Reverend Horton Heat,
Sydney
northern beaches band Orange County and the Dictators, and tastes fresher than
week-old home brew. Opener "Revelation" is clearly cut from the garage cloth, with frenzied time changes and barking guitars. Strident be thy name. "Empty Pockets" opens with your favourite well-mannered boy, The Reverend, calling the congregation to order in true Handsome Dick Manitoba style before unleashing another Excocet, this time fuelled by a Chuck Berry intro and a bucketful of bluster. If I'm going to be preached to, let it be by guitars.
"Just a Little Light" is no such thing as it ascends a stairway to the stars with a faint nod to early Blue Oyster Cult and power to burn. "Louisville Fox" shuts things down and The Rev stretches out, wailing with the best of 'em as the rest of the Rockafellas churn out a roadhouse rhythm.
Just four songs and the tuneage isn't all that developed but, shit, there's a mountain of promise. It's all delivered as it was recorded - live - and without affectation. Sounds like a band to file under "watch this space". - The Barman
