kelly hewson

I coulda sworn I sent a review of this violent fucker in yonks ago but... apparently not. Anyway, it's been a couple months, and I still play it, often and loud, usually in the car, and I have the dangerous driving fines to prov

"Brando Rising" sounds fresh, piercing, varied and they approach the six songs here from every which way, and the disc hurtles toward you with the measured savagery of a Hammer film (or a killer making his way up the stairs). There's a healthy dollop of Stooges/ Iggy influence (no surprises as singer Rip fronts the Four Stooges when he's got a few moments to spare) and as The Barman points out belwo, a few other influences. 

Don't let the influences influence you. Guitarist Kelly Hewson wields a nasty, savage guitar and is one of the few guitarists to use wah-wah and get away with it. Wah-buzzsaw? Something like that. Either way, they've got a top rhythm section which knows how to party, a guitarist who wants to rule the world and a singer who already does (so I am told). They're entertaining, intense, new, not particularly pretty and belong headlining at your local beer barn.

Brando Rising – Brando Rising (self-released)

And, PLAY LOUD. What a fuckin' sound!

Ooooh, you're in for a stompin', whompin' treat. Only 100 copies, so get it while you can. Right, so, it's taking me a while to get my head round the enormity of this, okay? There's lots to pay attention to, which isn't at all possible, so endless re-listens are on the cards.

It's taken Brando Rising a little while to put this out, and from Kelly Hewson'smuscular, sinewy opening bars to vocalist Ripley Hood's closing shouts, you're hooded, grabbed, stuffed unceremoniously into the boot and taken for a bumpy, gritty ride to into some sort of moral swamp. God knows what your babbling explanation for skimming the casino take will be, but you know you're in trouble... and you'll have “Brando Rising” on repeat in no time flat.

A Crack in the World - Brando Rising (Crankinhaus)

“A Crack in the World” is an utter cracker, and if any of you lot had recorded anything half as good as this you'd have heads as big as prize-winning pumpkins.

I mean to say, Jesus wept, lads. “A Crack in the World” gets your attention as surely as if someone has heaved a box of tinned tuna at your head.

Doesn't matter what mood you're in, put this in your slot (oo-er, missus, fnaar fnaar etc) and you'll feel like a character in a 1950s Warner Brothers cartoon who has rashly “just added water” to a mysterious sachet.