Artist: Baby Universal
Title: Slow Shelter
Genre: Rock
Release Date: 28 March 2013
Label: Kabuum/ Broken Silence
Album Review
The band formed in Halle, Germany, in 2007, and released their self-titled debut album in 2010. Citing THE DOORS, QUEEN, BOWIE, WOODY GUTHRIE and TOM WAITS as influences, clearly there are no shrinking violets here. Their overall sound is a mash-up of modern indie guitar-driven song-writing and classic rock Americana, with elements of folk, blues and a twitchy eccentricity running throughout. New album ‘Slow Shelter’, released in March of this year, continues very much in this vein.
It gets off to a flying start with ‘Special Forces’. The clear voice of Conny Ochs leading an intro of “Bring me all the dead, bring me what you had, hopes and dreams again, we will celebrate the living” before the chugging guitar and seventies percussion sweep this up into something quite special. A big sing-along stomp of a chorus tops this perfect opener, which ends abruptly with the same line as the intro. It’s exhilarating stuff. No question about the influences at play during ‘Pale Horse, Pale Rider’, the title alone hinting at some dusty old Western, a dirty guitar line weaving around the purposeful shuffle. It’s like some long-lost gem by THE DOORS, indeed the spectre of JIM MORRISSON is writ large here, perhaps in a face-off with Clint Eastwood. A change of pace occurs in the acoustic strum and military drumming of ‘Cry Battle’, it has elements of classic ‘70’s rock, but the crystal clear production roots it firmly in the now. It’s a sturdy, solid song.
It’s not all good though. The fascination with hairy classic guitar sounds can lead down roads best left behind. There was a reason punk happened after all. ‘Save Me’, rather apt as a title, is a pretty horrible drive-time excursion, all cheap diners and Get Gas Here signs. ‘Crystal Clear’ isn’t much better, and wanders by without bothering to attract too much attention to itself. But then things take a delightful and unexpected turn with the mad, bad and simply wonderful ‘False Profits’. Leaping confidently from Sergeant Pepper’s era BEATLES, it’s totally McCartney, quirky, inventive, short and to the point. The instrumentation here is first class, it’s a song composed rather than merely written. And it rescues ‘Slow Shelter’ just at the point where it was all starting to sag.
‘Guitar’ continues the theme. It would be easy to imagine the late GEORGE HARRISON writing and singing this one. Quite a compliment. ‘Don’t Lose Your Fire’ is bluesy and assured, wearing its influences brazenly, a jagged little guitar solo leading into a gospel tinged climax. ‘Naked And Crying’ concludes the album, starting slow and world-weary, beautifully sung. It is the best vocal on ‘Slow Shelter’, and a gorgeous song, gentle strings easing the chorus along and settling into the background as things waltz seductively towards the finale. But as a false ending, it’s clever in setting itself up again, guitars building, an eyes closed, arms-in-the-air moment that lasts a further two minutes. You just don’t want this one to end. It’s stunning.
‘Slow Shelter’ then is a strange brew all in all. Occasionally self-indulgent and bogged down in the rather bland dust-bowl Americana that’s more THE EAGLES at their worst, than the sound you suspect they were aiming for, it is rescued by its pacy re-inventions. Adventurous and playful, intense and serious, it delivers both rock and indie, from competent blues to woozy ballad, and it’s all here without feeling cluttered. A bit of trimming around the fringe and side-burns, and BABY UNIVERSAL could well be onto a winner.
Tracklist
01. Special Forces
02. Pale Horse, Pale Rider
03. Cry Battle
04. Tombstone
05. Save Me
06. Crystal Clear
07. False Profits
08. Guitar
09. Missing
10. Don’t Lose Your Fire
11. Naked And Crying
Line-up
Conny Ochs – Vocals, Piano
Hannes Scheffler – Guitar
Tobias Lehmann – Bass
Carsten Rothweiler – Drums
Website
http://www.baby-universal.com / https://www.facebook.com/BabyUniversal
Cover Picture
Rating
Music: 7
Sound: 8
Total: 7.5
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