Too Late To Run – The Volcanics (Ghost Highway)
Perth band The Volcanics are Australia’s Best Kept Real Rock and Roll Secret. This is their seventh album in 19 years, but if they walked down a city street on the country’s east coast they wouldn’t get arrested (although in Sydney, they’d run the risk of a local council fine for treading noisily without a permit.)
Seven albums. Most bands are lucky if they make one long player, let alone the difficult sophomore effort. Three of The Volcanics’ records were produced by Rob Younger. So was one by Civic and they got to tour with the Sex Pistols.. Yeah, but they don’t come from Perth.
Perth really rates as a place to go. You should try it sometime. It’s sunny most of the year, the Swan Lager is cold and the citizens get more than their share of the country’s take of the Goods and Services Tax. But it’s still a fucking long way from anywhere else. It’s not on the dance card for most touring bands.
Anyway, I ain't spending any time on it, because in the meantime, every three months, a person is torn to pieces by a shark off Cottesloe Beach. And I’ve never gotten to see a quokka in the wild at Rottnest Island.
I first heard The Volcanics on a 2005 compilation called “Light The Fuse” that included The M-16s and it rocked righteously. Since then, The Volcanics have not put a foot wrong and “Too Late To Run” is proof.
The band’s sound checks all the right boxes: MC5, Sonic’s Rendezvous Band, The Hellacopters (with more economy), Powder Monkeys. They don’t sound like Radio Birdman (nobody does) but they do have that band’s belligerence. You’d have a siege mentality too if you grew up hearing Eskimo Joe was your city’s best band.
The Volcanics are touring Spain right now, on the back of “Too Late To Run” which has been released by Spanish label Ghost Highway,, but don’t expect to see them in the flesh on the Aussie East Coast any time soon. It’s not economical and Basque Country is more fun. But don’t let that stop you wrapping your ears around “Too Late To Run”.
You should have read about it here, earlier. I’ve had an advance download sitting on my hard drive for a month, but disorganisation and a flurry of our own label releases got in the way. It’s had more than a few plays, however, so the opinions here are considered.
The other thing to note is that these Volcanics don’t do streaming and are not to be confused with the SoCal instrumental surf band of the same name. If you’re a digital native, you can hear the Aussie version via their Bandcamp page.
The songs, as always, are top class. The band deliver them with energy and the confidence that only rock and roll lifers can pull off.
“Heat Of The Night” makes an immediate impression, one guitar riding out of the left speaker before its layered and equally volatile partner kicks in via the right. Johnny Phatouros has to be one of the best rock vocalists in the country and takes this tune to its logical conclusion as it grabs you by the collar and gives you a shake.
“Dark Dark Dark” goes for the throat, pure and simple, while “Lost Boats” is the dramatic brooder.. “Walk You Home” is a stuttering mid-tempo lip curler that doesn’t put a foot wrong. “Danny Torres”, a tribute to a Spanish promoter, it rocks like the bejesus. ”Body Shake” surfs on the back of Levi Caddy’s pliable bass line and climbs into a catchy chorus, book-ended by the twin guitar Catherine wheels of Bobby Burgess and Tommy Hopkins.
Don’t let the “Cascablanca” sample that presages “Love On The Rocks” lull you into a false sense of security; the song is a monster powered by full-throated guitar interplay. Phatouras shows a touch of vulnerability in the closer "Unsatisifed" while Burgess and Hopkins spark off each other and nudge the singer forthe spotlight.
The engine room of Caddy and drummer Alex Megaw keep things simple and effective throughout, grounding the bottom end with a dash of swing.
The whole shebang was masterfully mixed and mastered by Jim Diamond whose credits include The White Stripes, The Dirtbombs (of which he was a member), Electric Six, The Sonics, The Fleshtones, The Go, Andre Williams, The Mooney Suzuki, and Left Lane Cruiser so you know it sounds great.
My fantasy bill is to see these guys paired with Detroit's The Strains. A clear contender for Aussie Albim of the Year.
