Captain Crimson isn’t the only proto-metal influenced band to release an album this week. Admiral Sir Cloudesely Shovell sounds like they should be a poncey revivalist act dressing up in Sgt. Pepper outfits and playing eccentric 60s psychedelia. But they’re an entirely different bird, a rough ‘n’ raucous mix of slavering rock ‘n’ roll that’ll inspire some f**k yeahs, as they revisit the rapidfire riffing of Budgie (could the bird head on the cover be a reference to the band?), the anarchic kerfuffle of the Pink Fairies, the energy of MC5 and terse delivery of The Groundhogs. Rather than sounding like it’s been gathering moss since 1971, the raw sounds jump out of the speakers, daring you to try to catch this band live and keep up.
Hailing from Hastings, England, the band is named after a 17th century naval commander. Admiral Sir Cloudesley Shovell is a name definitely too good to stay dormant for four centuries. It was destined either to be in a Rocky & Bullwinkle cartoon or a kick ass rock ‘n’ roll band.
“Mark Of The Beast” starts in suitably epic fashion with furiously strummed acoustic intro with some pummeling drums and chanting before launching into the rock. Singer/guitarist Johnny Gorilla is not much for nuance, at least with vocals with a range consisting of distorted, panicked shouts and throat-shredding roars not unlike Mark Arm in early Mudhoney. His guitar playing is a different beast. “Devils Island,” is an impressive showcase for Gorilla’s riffing and impressive soloing, touching on the ever-present, monolithic influence of early Black Sabbath, but also Sir Lord Baltimore, Jerusalem, Dust, and likely countless other nearly forgotten bands that haunt the band’s record collection. They even had Tony McPhee of the aforementioned Groundhogs participate on the album.
After a chugging, doomy first part, “Red Admiral, Black Sunrise” shifts into full on boogie tilt at three and a half minutes that gets dangerously close to Black Oak Arkansas, but with a surplus of energy and enthusiasm that you know there’s never tongues in cheeks when it comes to riffs. “Killer Kane” launches into a speedy riff that reminds us just how closely connected Budgie were to Iron Maiden. Throughout the album, bassist Louis Comfort-Wiggett and drummer Bill Darlington sound deceptively simple, but are masterfully versatile, switching deftly between heavy plodding, furious galloping and sinewy rhythm snake dances.
Don’t Hear It… Fear It! was originally released on Lee Dorian’s Rise Above label on July 16, with little fanfare. It’s a good place for them, as similarly rocking Gentlemans Pistols has seen some success there, but luckily Metal Blade had picked it up for U.S. distribution. Those fatigued by the production and sound of modern metal and heavy rock need not despair, there’s something for every one. Admiral Sir Cloudesley are taking sounds that one would logically assume would stink of weed and mildew, but have shown it can still blaze hot enough to get a crowd to forget about what’s supposed to be in fashion and just go apeshit crazy.
