Album Type:
Single
Date Released:
August 25th
2014
Label:
Rise Above Records
Runaway Girls
- track listing:
1. Runaway Girls
2. Devil’s Work
(Acoustic)
Band Members
Kevin Starrs –
Lead Vocals, Lead Guitars, Organ
Yotam Rubinger –
Guitars, Backing Vocals
Dean Millar – Bass
Itamar Rubinger –
Drums
Review:
According to the
official Uncle Acid & the Deadbeats Facebook page, the impending
release of the “Runaway Girls” single signals the “closing
chapter of the MIND CONTROL era”. And what an era it has been.
Last year’s Mind Control topped the “best of” lists for
websites and metalheads worldwide, leading to an opening slot for
Black Sabbath, whose comeback record, “13” pales in comparison to
Uncle Acid’s landmark third full-length. Runaway Girls is an
appropriate coda to the psychedelic doom masterpiece – the title
track likely would not have fit into the overall concept of the
album, in which an apocalyptic cult manages to succeed where so many
had failed. Frankly, it’s just too much fun, but manages to pack
all the sexy, sinister vibes of the album into a tight three and a
half minutes.
Starrs’ guitar hooks
are off the charts here, nicely doubled by Yotam Rubinger and Dean
Millar. Itamar Rubinger’s jazzy, 6/8 swing shows that metal
drumming can still be heavy without 808s and blast beats – Bill
Ward would be proud. The lyrics come off like a lost chapter of the
Mind Control story; Starrs’ narrator beckons to the titular ladies,
offering the family life they’ve craved. Of course, the family
here is of the evil, devil-worshipping, suede fringe and LSD spiked
moonshine variety, as the downbeat, menacing solo indicates, leading
toward a thrashing crescendo.
The B-side, an acoustic
rendition of album-closer “Devil’s Work,” abandons the
pounding, military backbone of the original, electric version.
Instead, layered acoustic guitars glide back and forth between airy,
minor key folk and bluesy riffing. The multitracked vocals here
don’t indicate the same army of brainwashed acolytes of the album
track, but perhaps a lone madman, voices echoing in his skull,
stalking and dispatching the un-converted in some desolate scene
straight from a 70s exploitation movie. The track wouldn’t be out
of place in the opening credits of the original The Hills Have Eyes
or the lesser known Just Before Dawn.
Overall, the single
will appeal to anyone who was enamored with Mind Control, and comes
as a bittersweet farewell to this era of the band. Then again, if an
effort this strong is truly clearing the vaults for Uncle Acid &
the Deadbeats, I, for one, can’t wait to hear what they have in
store next.
Reviewed by: Mark
Ambrose
Thanks to Rise Above Records for the promo. Runaway Girls will be out to buy from August 25th 2014 on Rise Above Records.
