Rescue Rangers - 'Manitoba' (Album Review)

By: John Slaymaker

Album Type: Full Length

Date Released: 11/01/2012

Label: Trendkill Recordings

 

You can hear a bit of Mondo Generator in some songs especially on ‘Ape Shall Not Kill Ape’ and the band are very definitely a desert/ stoner rock  band, albeit a bit commercial, but for every bit of radio friendly fodder, they got riffs and melodies in heaps.

‘Manitoba’ CD//DD//LP track listing:

1) In Time, Pal (4:48) featuring Dave Angstrom

2) The Blank (3:58)

3)  Ape Shall Not Kill Ape (2:37)

4) New Astronomy (4:13)

5) Why So Serious? (5:08)

6) Done Gone (1) (0:41)

7) Manitoba (5:57)

8) Creeper, The One Who Creeps (4:07) featuring Nick Oliveri

9) Done Gone (2) (8:14)

10) New Astronomy (Reprise) (1:40)

11) You Are Here (5:28)

Rescue Rangers is:

Pierre Roulois | Drums

Christophe Fresard | Bass and Backing vocals

Pascal Mascheroni | Vocals and Guitars

The Review:

‘In time, Pal ‘starts off very much like QOTSA with a pounding drum beat and typical QOTSA guitars, but as it reaches the chorus we get a cool sing-along riff, catchy not very desert but  still awesome rock n roll.  Rescue Rangers are a way cooler band than their name suggests, Pascal Mascheroni is quite the front man with a great voice and some nice fancy lead guitar work.  It is also worth noting, Dave Angstrom of Hermano fame, blasts out guitar on this track.  Awesome stuff.

You can hear a bit of Mondo Generator in some songs especially on ‘Ape Shall Not Kill Ape’ and the band are very definitely a desert/ stoner rock  band, albeit a bit commercial, but for every bit of radio friendly fodder, they got riffs and melodies in heaps. I suppose the song ‘New Astronomy’ is just that, as it slowly scuppers around in the 70’s and even touching on a bit of Bowie. The record continues the said themes on ‘Why So Serious?’ and ‘Done Gone (1)’, an acoustic number, less than a minute but I still get a chance to envisage Pascal sitting on a porch in a rocking chair sporting a ten gallon hat.

The record returns to form on title track ‘Manitoba’ producing a good cattle driving desert rocking riff; proper desert rock. Now the album gets even better with ‘Creeper, The One Who Creeps’, Nick Oliveri provides the vocals on this track and is a little tamer than he usually is on the Mondo Stuff. However, I recommend watching the Official video for this, as there was a strange man in a suit hanging around the drum kit. It baffled me.

‘Done Gone (2)’ my favourite and also the longest song clocking up an impressive 8:14, is the sort of tune you can watch the sun go down too. The vocal harmonies are great, with Christophe on bass helping out as I sing along with them “Guess you live and learn, Guess you live and learn when I’m done, I’m gone”.

The whole album does have a laid back feel to it, pretty much all the way through, ballady in places but Pascal’s singing is well worth it. Perhaps a bit too commercial for my underground tastes but you cannot deny that is a very fine desert rock effort.

You can buy their record on vinyl here and CD here. 

Check out the aforementioned video for ‘Creeper, The One Who Creeps‘below and links for the band. 

FFO: Hermano. QOTSA, Mondo Generator,

Band info: Official Bandcamp Facebook Shop