Roads, Stars – Asteroid B612 (Golden Robot)
The appearance of a new Asteroid B-612 studio album a full two-and-a-half decades after they were a going concern is a risky move, by any measure.
They didn’t tour much outside of the Sydney-Melbourne axis (except when they went to the USA) but if you saw Asteroid B612 live they left a lasting impression. Once they found their sound and came to grips with the studio, their records did, too. Over the years, Asteroids established a loyal fanbase, mainly in Europe.
The good news is that “Roads, Stars” works as a rock and roll record. It’s a fitting epitaph to the memory of late bass player Scott Nash.
Back in the day, Asteroids were a band that people thought they had pegged. It was too easy to claim them as (yet another) Sydney mongrel from the litter of Radio Birdman. Crunchingly loud. Wall to wall guitars. You might have thought they’d appropriated their name from Sonic’s Rendezvous Band when it came from a 1943 French novel.
Even a cursory listen to the back catalogue will tell you Asteroid B612 was informed by many influences. They nodded in Birdman’s direction for their energy and chip-on-their-shoulder attitude, but also drew inspiration from Americana, a slew of late ‘80s Aussie bands, Chuck Berry and the Roy Loney-era Flamin’ Groovies.
If this is a band that always resisted pigeonholing, so does “Roads, Stars”. It’s a sprawling collection of 10 bluesy songs that get better with every listen.
The reconstituted Asteroid B612 is a trans-global thing. Longtime drummer Ben Fox and original singer Grant McIver both call Australia home. Guitarist-band leader John Spittles lives in Spain, and has recruited well credentialed countrymen in bassist Juancho Lopez (Paul Collins, Peralta, Kurt Baker Combo) and guitarist Xabi Garre (Señor No, Roy Loney, Cheetah Chrome) to fill out the ranks.
The album was assembled in studios on opposite sides of the globe.
Dissonant guitar sounds and backward masking announce opening song “Bending Bars” as it takes shape, settling into a swaggering psychedelic groove. “Hold to Hold” is cut from similar cloth, and then “The Tide of Tides” elevates the mood by several degrees with a soulful vocal and some commanding guitar.
There’s an expansive quality to these songs that understandably evaded the band in its early days. It’s evident in the rueful “A Cruel Thing Sleeps In Your Happiness” and the ethereal instrumental “Forever Flying (An Ode To Scotty)”, two of the record's stand-out cuts.
“Mess With You” marches to a funereal beat, accompanied by massive chording and a doom-laden vocal, but there’s no shortage of characteristic high-octane rockers like the scorching “Cheap As Chips”, the urgent “Yeah You” and the title track. The observational “Park Bench Gods” (the pre-release digital single) even sounds a little like the “Back In The USA” MC5 if Jon Landau hadn’t cut off their balls.
Ultimately, thoiugh, it's an Asteroid B612 record.
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Buy it on vinyl, CD or as a download in Europe
