Album Review

The Spikes – Urges & Purges

• 6th Apr 2009

In a musical environment being rapidly enveloped by an Eighties renaissance what place is there for the raw rock sound of the Spikes?

In one way, eighties nostalgia may not be a bad thing, as if I remember correctly our emerald shores enjoyed a fertile period of blues and rock n’ roll creativity during the aforementioned decade.

Irrespective of market whims the Spikes are going to need a strong musical identity to stake a claim to listener’s hearts, and sadly their debut album falls short in this respect. We’re left with the impression of a band caught between the two stools of classic ‘rawkk’ and the landfill indie sound which until recently had clogged up the charts on a weekly basis.

Lead singer Tom Dunne epitomises this identity crisis perfectly, presenting himself as a curious Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde mixture that is equal parts Jim Morrison and Johnny Borrell. The best songs on the album are those in which the band sounds most indebted to their classic rock lineage. Single release ‘Hypnotized’ exhibits the Spikes at their best, channelling the classic rock sound while sidestepping the pitfall of sounding dated and derivative, with Dunne’s growling baritone vocals sounding genuinely impassioned. His delivery there stands in stark contrast with ‘Checked In, Chucked Out’, where his vocals sound drawling and disinterested.

Such inconsistent vocal delivery can be distracting, and while one rarely arrives at a rock and roll album expecting profound lyrical insight, the frequency of the lyrical inanity on display detracts from some songs (most notably the “say hello to Mr. Pain” chorus on ‘Fighting in the Streets’).The few tracks where female backing vocals feature only leave me wishing that the band had decided to incorporate them more heavily throughout the album, as they compliment the band’s raw sound very, very well.

I really wished they’d spent more time working this element into their sound at the expense of whimsical numbers like ‘Painted in Gold’. The latter is but one instance of several forgettable numbers on the album, and reinforces the impression that ‘Urges and Purges’ is guilty of the cardinal sin which any rock album must strive to avoid; too much filler, not enough killer.

As an album the punchy, brief nature of the songs detracts from the experience, especially when the few songs which the band allow to stretch past the three minute mark really benefit from the extra time with which to musically stretch their legs (the punky ‘Guess Again’ is the only song which really works perfectly within the short two minute format). So while hardly the perfect debut, the Spikes show a hell of a lot of potential in this thirty six minute showcase. Both ‘Fighting in the Streets’ and ‘Monster’ possess a sense of menace trembling beneath the surface which evokes the spirit of Black Mountain at their acid rock best, while in ‘Red City Light’ and ‘Smug Little Kiss’ they’ve struck the perfect balance between contemporary rock sensibilities and classic rock swagger.