Angel Air 2014
Kastin’ The Spell
Out of Sweden, one more shakin’ of the filibuster bone – with a fine frenzy and a freak flag flyin’.
Since 2010, when Mick Green’s passing sank THE PIRATES, the band’s wreckage has been proliferating to give birth to various projects who share Kidd’s crazy DNA. Bassist Björn Anders and drummer Romek Parol were part of this fabric in the ’90s but now they’re on the same deck again as THE SPELLKASTERS which somehow maroons BJ’s own BUCCANEERS after their 2013’s debut and slims down the bounty to a trio where guitarist Pete Edmunds takes the lead. Their first album navigates between the reefs and riffs of humorous originals that make mere mortals shiver and a couple of covers.
If DR. FEELGOOD’s “All Through The City as well as a semi-acoustic take on “Rollin’ And Tumblin'” search for a fire in the days of yore, the rock ‘n’ roll rumble of “I Can Tell” is the ragged king of here and now. So it’s good when a curse is sent into “Bad Blood And Voodoo” and the wild, even more infectious, title track, but the shallow boogie of “Going Back Home” or “Coming Home” rams it all down the bottom. “Valley Girl” plumbs the depth with a measured funk and a mighty twang, though, while the sinister blues of “Vodka Headed Woman” pushes the spell to the limits of sanity, yet if opener “Louise, Lousie” throws a catchy twist on “Louie, Louie” with a zany chug, closer “Ain’t Getting Mad” slows the pace to a vibrant walk along the plank. All’s well that ends well, of course, and two PIRATES cuts hang nicely in there as concert bonuses, “Don’t Munchen It” killing it in style. The spirit lives on, then.
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