ALBUM REVIEW: Trucker Diablo album sets benchmark few will reach

Social Hand Grenade detonates aurally with variety and passion

By Jonathan Traynor

Let’s face it, Trucker Diablo have nothing to prove in terms of their music, but their new album, (out now) Social Hand Grenade takes them on to a level many wish and cannot attain.

When an album is described as mature, it is sometimes the death knell for an act, but the Big Truck’s maturity here is in the confidence to deliver something that is rarely achieved.

However, this album comes with a word of caution: it will first make you grin from ear-to-ear and in the next breath contemplate the world and the wonders of the sheer madness around you.

Take ‘California on the Run’. It will come as a surprise to a few, but a few bars in and you realise that they have captured the essence of a smile and distilled it into music.

That’s not to say Trucker Diablo have gone soft or anything – heaven forfend – there are sufficient stadium killer anthems that will make others weep in frustration.

And, speaking of a wee cry, heart-string tugging closer will have all those ‘experts’ on Saturday night talent shows ditch their boy bands and FX-singing divas a they will never emulate the wistfully contemplative ‘What I See’.

California on rhe Run  and the coda and the clutch of songs that weave the human condition, both individually and collectively

 ‘Here Come The Vultures’ is the hand grenade delivered to the endless scrolling and the gathering of trolls behind screens. It is a fuck you to them all.

Do You remember the ‘Summer of ‘69’, with Bryan Adams? Well, ditch the drive-in, smash the front porch and learn that ‘We Are Forever’. 

Nodding to Mr Adams Tom id asking about the summer of ’89, and recalls that feeling we can remember in our formative years, that feeling we wish to recapture, and for our sanity we can.

The performances by all, as always, are exemplary, the melodies infectious, and the arrangement of each song carefully honed for maximum effect.

What is striking is that even with both the contemplative, and the rage Tucker Diablo have delivered a Social Hand Grenade that has more positivity than a fleet of fully charged Tesla’s.

Social Hand Grenade is out now

ALBUM REVIEW: Thundermother shake the earth on album number three

IT has been all change on the Thundermother front as three quarters of the band were replaced, with only Filippa Nassil remaining. Has that diminished in any way from the band? Not at fucking at all.

If there was any doubt about the new re-purposed rockers this self-titled third album kicks that into touch.

The 13 track are straightforward no nonsense rock - all instant classics. Recording them in  a remarkable 10-day period live gives it an organic urgency, such as on the frenetic 'Racing on Main Street'.

There are no weak tracks here, from the moody opener 'Revival' to closer 'Won't Back Down'. Indeed that seems to be the musical and lyrical message - Thundermother are back to stay.

It's not however all finger in the air rocking out. 'Fire In the Rain' is a brooding ballad that builds to a chorus that is sublime.

Guernica Mancini does have similarities to her predecessor, but there is no imitation here, putting her own stamp on TM. The extremely catchy 'Hanging At My Door' is a perfect example of this, merged with a meaty riff.

New drummer Emlee Johannson and bassist Sara Pettersson have a relaxed but purposeful groove throughout, highlighted on 'The Original Sin'. Throughout drum sound in particular is impeccable.

There appears to be an under-current on 'Thundermother', about proving themselves, about re-birth and the usual "fuck you" attitude.

Sure, some tracks do pay homage to their influences (the bell and opening of 'We Fight For Rock N Roll' sounds like a sequel to DC's Rock N Roll Ain't Noise Pollution) but the  four-piece are much more than another hard rock band playing out clichés.

Instead they put their own stamp on hard rock. Take a pinch of Aussie rock, add 70s sounds, a dash of European classic rock and this Stockholm band have nailed it.

Even after repeated listens it still sounds fresh and vibrant.

Review by Jonathan Traynor