Tuesday 12 August 2014

Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats - Runaway Girls (Single Review)


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.

Check The Band From Links Below

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