ALBUM REVIEW: Murder and the Motive – Those Damn Crows

Welsh hard rockers THOSE DAMN CROWS bring forth their debut album Murder And The Motive. The band have been gaining momentum with their live shows, playing at Steelhouse and Ramblin’ Man Festivals, and gearing up for their tour with THE BAD FLOWERS and FEDERAL CHARM. With new songs and repackaging of fan favourite singles, can listeners expect the same level of bouncy rock ‘n’ roll?

Kicking things off in style, a notably big riff marks the beginning of Don’t Give A Damn. Excited vocals inject some real fun, and it’s clear that the band already have a lot of positive energy in their music. Big hearty guitars over vigorous drums, thundering versus and chanting choruses start things off nicely.

Blink Of An Eye has a more reserved start, before unleashing a powerful movement of earnest guitars. It’s super catchy, and you can see this being one of the big crowd pleasers. There’s a feel of FOO FIGHTERS in the progressions, with that more southern rock edge that ramps things into a coarser sound. Someone Someday is a sorrowful story of missed opportunity, being stuck in the mud but being willing to find a way no matter what. It’s well written and the melodies are powerful in their build up. This kind of honest, relatable rock music with good musical connections on every level is rare to find. There isn’t anything overtly complex about this, but the relatability comes in where the familiarity lies. This is all fresh sounds, building on the legacy of Hard Rock giants like ALTER BRIDGE and BLACK STONE CHERRY, and creating a new space for their own fun and rowdy sound.

Moving on to Rock ‘n’ Roll Ain’t Dead, one of the bands better known songs, is a bombastic riot of big drums and tasty, grungy riffs. Vocally it’s strong, shoutable and memorable, a real ear worm. This is THOSE DAMN CROWS‘ rock ‘n’ roll anthem, that will get any fan of heavy guitars and good fun up on the floor.

Behind These Walls has a similar rhythm to previous songs, the same breakdowns stand reliable and it is easy to listen to. It’s a much more subdued take on their sound, fitting for its more contemplative vocals. There’s a notion of THREE DOORS DOWN in there, however the blues feel never leaves, and the itch to really burst out and do some damage is always lurking under the surface until the last third of the song.

Back to the hard-hitting, high-power guitars and thundering rhythm section, Say It is a real cracker of a song. Darker and brooding moments shifting into rip-roaring sections, bellowing vocals capping it off to make for another athematic banger of a tune. There’s a real joy in finding a band like THOSE DAMN CROWS, who have crammed every inch of quality, sing along, hard rock into this album; utterly full of motivation and groove, Murder And the Motive has it in spades.

We begin with a very old school feel to the start to Seven Days, the guitars emphasise the grit of heavy rock, riffs running with a real momentum. Shane Greenhall’s vocals are perfectly balanced as his solid, distinct vocals never falter under the chugging noise of the instruments. It takes a certain kind of vocalist to be able to carry such range while maintaining the roots of the music, but THOSE DAMN CROWS know just how to compose their music without question. The same can be said on The Fighter, where things are still played at 100%. If you’re a fan of boisterous, big sounds that pack a punch and do so smiling, you’re going to be utterly in love with their album.

Penultimate track Breakaway inserts a new swing to the groove, still keeping things fresh. Still kicking in with that hard rock goodness, they don’t put out a bad not;, you’ve got a hard time picking the best track on this album. This album is road trip music all the way, big song after big song, enthusiasm incarnate. The fuzzy push into a more malevolent style bass line before the final crescendo is really satisfying. Fear of the Broken pounds around will a little more intention, letting you know things aren’t over just because we’re at the end. Groove aplenty, fun dynamics and key changes, we complete out outing on Murder And The Motive with just as catchy a tune as we started with, one you’ll be dying to air guitar or drum to, and bellow at the top of your lungs.

There’s a real sense of the fun and life in these songs, THOSE DAMN CROWS are a band that represent everyone and allow everyone to revel in the fun of their sound. Weighty where it’s needed, constantly lively and always memorable, Murder and the Motive is a classic of modern heavy rock.

Rating: 8/10

Murder And The Motive is out now via Earache Records. THOSE DAMN CROWS are featured in the latest issue of Distorted Sound, grab yourself a copy here.

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