Review Summary: The Struts debut with a shocker of a rock album, that revives some of the spirit that was found in British Rock's heyday with such bands as Queen and The Rolling Stones.
If there was an album that I could pinpoint as being a true attempt at reviving the styles of classic rock of the 70s and 80s, it could easily be argued that The Strut’s debut album fits the bill, as it is one of the best recreations of those styles in recent years. It has all the great elements of classic British rock music, and a great sense of energy thanks to the killer vocalist and front man Luke Spiller. He has easily one of my favorite voices of any rock band around right now, and it’s just as fantastic live as it is on record (I’ve seen them twice already, and they put on amazing performances.). I can say the same as well for the rest of the band, consisting of Adam Slack (guitars), Jed Elliot (bass), and Gethin Davies (drums). Their tight and quality playing combined with their own sense of flair they add to each of their parts really breathes life and emotion into this album.
There are essentially three different styles of songs on this record: anthems, upbeat/feel-good jams, and ballads. The anthems are categorized as such as a result of their boisterous choruses that are very over-the-top, the upbeat songs focus a bit more on a fun hook through the choruses with an energetic guitar and drum line, and the ballads which slow down the pace and focus more on the emotion of the vocals and lyrics, adding more mellow elements like strings and acoustic guitar. It works well in terms of the pacing, and the way the tone and tempo of the songs were placed through the album doesn’t allow the listener to get really sick of one specific type. The way the songs are organized could have been better, as the five best tracks are all the first five tracks on the album, which leaves a bit to be desired as listening to the rest of the album. Granted, none of the rest of the songs are bad to be fair, but the album peaks at the beginning and never gets up to that same high, although it does come close to the fantastic closer, “Where Did She Go,” which closes the album very similar as to which it is opened with “Roll Up,” which is with a loud and anthemic track.
The upbeat tracks are easily the best on the record, as I feel like they are the most sonically diverse. Take for example, “Put Your Money On Me,” “Kiss This,” and “She Makes Me Feel Like.” Three upbeat, fun songs, but all very different stylistically. Contrastingly, the anthemic tracks may grate a bit after listening several times, as they lack strong variety. The two ballads, “Only Just a Call Away” and “Mary Go Round” are both very strong tracks, the former being certainly one of the best on the album, with its chorus vocal hook that really grabs the listener’s attention, and keeps it for the rest of the track. Overall, this isn’t an album that you have to pick and choose through, though, because it doesn’t contain any bad tracks that can be labeled as “filler.” There will be tracks that some will like more than others, just as a matter of personal taste, but none of the tracks are bad enough to be generally disliked, which is a great quality of the record. It’s not often I have the pleasure of being able to sit through an album multiple times where none of the songs frustrate me.
I was very pleasantly surprised upon my first listen of the Struts’ debut album, and am very happy to highly recommend giving the entirety of the album a listen, as it is certainly worth your time.
