ALBUM REVIEW: To Hell With Tomorrow The Lords Are Now! – The Lords Of Altamont
Emerging from the hazy depths of an early 1970s Los Angeles dive bar, with the rustic smell of 25-year-old whiskey, motorbike oil and burnt matches, THE LORDS OF ALTAMONT have been offering up vintage, high speed rock ‘n’ roll imbued with 1960s psychedelia, glam, American punk alongside British rhythm and blues for the last 23 years. They take their inspiration from those early pioneers of guitar distortion, as they hashed out primitive riffs in garages surrounded by the remnants of motorcycles, wall-clinging exhaust fumes, the sweat of mechanics and slick engine oil on the floor. This is rock ‘n’ roll made for riding an American V8 steel horse across the country.
To Hell With Tomorrow The Lords Are Now! is THE LORDS OF ALTAMONT’s first live album, and while not being recorded in front of an audience, it certainly has that raw, live feel despite its high end production. Recorded at Studio Moskou, which is located in the renowned DB’s venue/bar/rehearsal space in Utrecht, Netherlands, with everything cranked up to the max, the album is a non-stop party from start to finish. With that in mind, the immediate first impression of To Hell With Tomorrow The Lords Are Now! is that it is like an old school BBC John Peel session. Full of attitude and character, your imagination is left to generate images of the band going wild in the studio as they deliver a fiery and impassioned performance.
Each song on the album is carefully chosen by THE LORDS OF ALTAMONT to reflect who they are today and who they have been over the past 23 years of their career. The album is delivered with a no-nonsense approach; with pre-production and recording completed across two days, it captures the band at their most raw and brutally honest. Every bluesy note from Dani Sindaco seems to ring out with defiance as riff after riff after riff comes flying at you at one hundred miles per hour over the pounding drums of Barry van Esbroek whilst Rob Zimmerman’s rumbling basslines drive the songs forward alongside lead vocalist Jake Cavaliere’s screaming organ and punky vocal melodies. Everything that the band was, is and ever shall be is captured perfectly; full of explosive energy, THE LORDS OF ALTAMONT’s instruments could easily be set alight with the ferocity of their playing here.
Even though there is no audience on the album, there is a surprisingly strong, transcending sense of atmosphere and an undeniably powerful presence that exudes itself throughout the record. It is easy to imagine yourself in a sleazy Detroit motorcycle-themed club or a Los Angeles dive bar, soaking up the atmosphere as THE LORDS OF ALTAMONT tear through their set. There is also a refreshing nostalgia for what is considered by some to be a golden age of music, as the band have brought this vintage rock ‘n’ roll sound kicking and screaming into the modern age. Primarily it’s a feel good album, and it will certainly make you want to don your leather jacket and head out on the road for a long road trip across America.
The album opens up with a narrated intro called To Hell With Tomorrow…, which definitely gives you an indication of what you’re in for as it launches into I Said Hey. Ultimately To Hell With Tomorrow The Lords Are Now! is a feel good album; it’s hard to feel anything other than happy whilst listening to it. The plethora of the band’s influences all fuse together with ease, in some areas it’s like a higher octane RAMONES and in others it’s like DEEP PURPLE on speed. A vast array of late 1960s and early 1970s style rock is covered in such a sort space of time that it throws you round like a hurricane. Songs like Going Nowhere Fast have a throw all caution to the wind attitude that you can’t help but love because you know you’re here for a good time and not a long time. Another highlight of the album is 7th Day where the USA and UK blues influences stand tall beside each other and play significant part. A wailing harmonica introduces the song and the riffs are a fusion of classic Brit blues and a screaming American organ.
To Hell With Tomorrow The Lords Are Now! captures THE LORDS OF ALTAMONT at their most wild and crazy. Even though the album is studio produced, they have managed to capture the unhinged madness of one of the band’s shows and the feel good, party atmosphere that comes with it. This is certainly an album to let loose to and get completely caught up in the vintage Californian rock ‘n’ roll hurricane that is THE LORDS OF ALTAMONT.
Rating: 8/10
To Hell With Tomorrow The Lords Are Now! is set for release on March 17th via Heavy Psych Sounds,
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