Wolf Jaw, The Heart Won't Listen - album review
Cannock's Wolf Jaw are back - loud, proud and producing that engrossing, stomping rock sound that has served them so well before.
Under previous moniker The Bad Flowers the former Star Unsigned column featured act released the excellent Starting Gun - which made our list of albums of the year for 2018.
With their new name, renewed vision, yet vitally the same line-up they are continuing along the same path. It's a full menu of face-slapping guitar romps and exceptional live shows that leave even the most casual of rock fans sweaty from frolicking about, sucked up in the energy coming from the stage.
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Yet this album starts with a slightly toned down feel. The opening salvoes of Hear Me, the aptly named I Ain't Ready and Ticking Time Bomb are solid rock numbers but don't quite grip you like their last venture into the recording studio.
And then, this thing erupts. Another aptly named track - The Fighter - starts slugging away at you to make you listen. And then Piece Of Me, Open Your Eyes, Choke, I Lose My Mind, Shoulda, Woulda, Coulda and Beast continue the dance with your attention and remind you why you fell in with this band in the first place.
We mean it when we say any rock band, of any level, would be happy with a run of tracks back-to-back of the level of those mentioned above.
Perhaps the king of the lot is Shoulda, Woulda, Coulda. Thankfully not a cover of the hit by Wolverhampton's Beverley Knight - it's a steady, swaggering number full of stonking percussion from Karl Selickis that tickles the back of your spine invitingly.
Anyone who has seen them live will know the importance of Dale Tonks' bass lines to their sound. He's still doing that. Beast is his forte as he dances teasingly behind Tom Leighton's guitar and vocals to turn up the tension.
Leighton's voice is a one-man electricity pylon, conducting everything around him and supercharging the sound with his scratchy, howling delivery. Piece Of Me shows both this side of his voice and a softer, crooning tone that takes the edge off the rock cacophony and turns things into more of a ballad.
There is enough about this band to match the likes of Monster Truck and Wolfmother in their corner of the musical spectrum, and we have a firm belief they are headed for the heights of the industry.
We hope positivity from multiple corners towards this record will help ease the anger from having their gear stolen by callous thieves on the last day of their recent tour with Crobot.
Rating: 7/10
