HOUR
OF THE SEVENTH MOON - Sheek the Shayk (Laughing
Outlaw)The debut longplayer by Sheek the Shayk should gain more disciples and force the Sheek's enemies to make tracks into oblivion.
HOUR
OF THE SEVENTH MOON - Sheek the Shayk (Laughing
Outlaw)
The debut longplayer by Sheek the Shayk should gain more disciples and force
the Sheek's enemies to make tracks into oblivion.
"I
Move It" opens the album and is surely one of the toughest, fastest and loudest
tunes to be committed to CD this year. "Got it All" is sharp, well-crafted rifferama
mania and keeps the CD really pumping along, as guitar duo Il Lupo and Punchie
Puchero lock in tightly and break out into some killer leads and rock-solid
rhythm guitar work.
"Jane Kennedy" pulls the pace back somewhat as the band begins to display ita grasp of dynamics, which continues in a scorching manner in "She Gives the Sign". ÔDaughters of the RevolutionÕ gets decidedly psychedelic and heavy and features guest harmony vocals from Ms. Carrie Phillis. It's another highlight. "Outta My Head" allows the band to show its groovy '60s garage moves as the Sheek continues to deliver in his unique, enigmatic vocal style. "The Promised Planet" follows the band out of the garage and shifting into the swamp and pulls the back again and might surprise the seasoned Sheek listener.
The last of the guests Peter Wells (ex-Buffalo, Rose Tattoo), appears on slide
on "Wig Out" and his slide guitar work not surprisingly adds something different
to the regular sound of the band on this track. "Alone" re-gathers the pace
and displays the high energy-power rock, heard earlier in "I Move It", but had
some dynamics added to make this track really standout amongst the second-half
offerings. The title track closes the album and builds from a quiet start in
a decidedly Middle Eastern sounding manner, yet is still hard, fast and dynamic
enough to be a definitive Sheek The Shayk tune.
This is an album to win the doubters. The Sheek and Co pull out all stops to
deliver a real winner. - Simon Li
3/4
Laughing Outlaw is fast becoming Australia's most diverse label outside
of the majors, with a yin and yang spirit that's a reflection of its owners'
Catholic tastes. From alt.country to balls-out rock and back to clever pop,
they're covering most of the bases. But even on a label so diverse, Sheek the
Shayk are a different bag of fish and chips. They sit at the axis of fuzzed-out
acid punk, proto-metal Black Sab rifforama and the high-energy rock of a swag
of leather-clad bands we don't have to name, but with tongue firmly lodged in
cheek.
Theatricality has always been a close colleague of rock, ever since Screaming
Jay Hawkins shook a rubber skull and hopped down out of his coffin at an Alan
Freed show. Sheek the Shayk (can't anyone spell these days?) hang around the
same novelty shops. They're a five-piece fronted by the Sheek (or Senor Johnny
as he's calling himself this week), an enigmatic and well-travelled figure whose
face is alternately obscured by Middle Eastern headress and sunglasses or wrestling
mask and hat. Band members' names, if not their identities, change daily so
we won't bother enunciating them, though at one stage they were collectively
known as the Royal Camels. They do have extensive histories in the Sydney music
scene, dating back to the Psychotic Turnbuckles and Minuteman to name a couple,
so the term "journeymen" is applicable. Together, they crank out a more than
respectable mix of guitar-encrusted mania. Like Sam the Sham on steroids.
The Sheek presumably spent a lot of his misspent youth in front of Saturday
morning TV, as his vocals sit that side of cartoonish. Nothing wrong with sounding
like the world's oldest frustrated teenager when you're singing tunes with titles
like "Full On Fox", "I Want That Woman" and "Don't Bug the Shayk". If you hadn't
guessed already, lyrically we're not talking post-grad PHD dissertation, but
on this level dumbness is definitely a virtue.
One of these songs has already surfaced (the driving "I Want That Woman" on
the disc that accompanies "Off the Hip" magazine) and it's the best thing here.
"Got It All" is an almost-as-good, simplistic stomp about a girl who "needs
to make the scene". "Jane Kennedy" is an ode to an Aussie TV star, and you have
to love lyrics as base as: "That Rob Stitch - time to ditch". Some of the songs
merge a little but most definitely grow after a listen or three. If you've caught
the Sheek live you'll know exactly what to expect.
The album does occasionally break the mould (whatever that is). "The Promised
Planet" borrows from the Visitors' "Disperse". The six-and-a-half-minute heavy
psych trip of the title track takes on an Eastern flavour, while "Wig Out" has
an obvious Rose Tattoo feel with guest player Pete Wells contributing nice and
loud slide guitar.
The album's produced with lots of punch in the guitars and no concessions in
favour of the unattainable (like airplay).
To my mind, Sheek the Shayk have the Dictators Dilemma, in that they're too
jokey for the Curled Lip-and-Leathers Brigade and not authentically 1965 enough
for those who'd hang out on the Bomp mailing list and bemoan the lack of anything
listenable since the Sonics called it a day and The Litter turned heavy metal.
Their failure to get the joke shouldn't hamper yours. Live, the schtick might
not have many other places to go, but on this offering there's enough happening
to overcome the stictures of Rock and Roll Fundamentalism. See ya at the casbah
and make mine a double. - The Barman
3/4