The uberverdict: Unkle - ‘WAR STORIES’

James Lavelle has been accused of many things over the years - being a fashion harlot, a sub-standard DJ and a producer who takes credit for others work. At this point in his career he’s had enough. Enough he says of “constantly trying to push, and knocking your head against a brick wall... it is really about surrendering yourself to life.” Released on his new independent record label, clothing brand and art house Surrender All, Lavelle’s influences litter he and co-producer Richard File’s third studio album War Stories. From his well publicised love of psychedelic rock and the ‘Madchester’ Stone Roses sound through to his recent infatuation: Queens of the Stone Age and their distinctive brand of ‘desert rock’, one thing that is clear from the onset is that Lavelle has meticulously set out to produce a record that embodies the very genre. The record is touted as ‘a collection of desert songs’ and recorded in the very same Rancho de la Luna studio, situated in the Californian Joshua Tree national park desert, home of The Desert Sessions series (featuring the likes of PJ Harvey, Nick Oliveri, Josh Freese) and QOTSA. And, surprise, surprise, Lavelle has been using that little black book of his again. He has even drafted in long time QOTSA producer Chris Goss (aka the Godfather of desert rock). Unsurprisingly it doesn’t stop there. In fact the only surprise before we actually insert this beautifully packaged release into the stereo is that, shock horror, Ian Brown doesn’t feature even once.

Residedly dark and epic with an air of decadence this is a druggy album. Lavelle and File have clearly wondered into the desert and lost it for days on end. The very thought is electrifying and from the off, the dramatic and gripping ‘Chemistry’ goes foot to the floor blasting through the barren desert in the biggest of fuck-off 6.5 litre V8 American muscle cars. The sterile misery and claustrophobia that proliferated Never, Never, Land has been hung out to dry on War Stories. The basslines are dirty, lo-slung and throbbing and the guitars are distorted, wailing and gyrate like Abel Ferrera’s ‘The Driller Killer’ – bit like turning up to the Titty Twister with Kyuss blasting from the Pontiac, fuel vapours still fuming from the dual tail pipes. It means business. Third track ‘Hold My Hand’ apparently witnesses Lavelle’s very own vocal debut. Heavily processed and reverberated he sounds like a spitting image of a haunting Bobby Gillespie on Primal Scream’s ‘Burning Wheel’ interspersed with a dirtier Black Rebel Motorcycle Club number. Unkle have changed. They sound like a real rock band with real songs now. Mixing the rock-with-yer-cock-out moves of The Stone Roses with the aggressive power and confrontation of The Stooges on tracks like ‘Lawless’, the only out-and-out dance track comes when some geezer Josh Homme makes a guest appearance. ‘Restless’ an unrelentingly elastic and robotic bass driven number, in the same vein as LCD Soundsystem, will go down well on any East London dance floor. But, the revolving door guest mentality Unkle employ doesn’t quite fit with Lavelle’s new band model. The result is, unsurprisingly, more a disjointed collection of bewitching songs than a single body of work.

Once again, the sound and production quality is as epic as we’ve come to expect from an Unkle release. The dramatic peaks on stand out ‘Broken’ meet Gavin Clark’s vocal with echoing strings to produce a strong air of Screamadelica. Lead single ‘Burn My Shadow’ features the perfectly matched baritone of Ian Astbury and a warm but slightly disturbed late night air of disaster and loss. Its dramatic breakdown conjures images of blurry figures hedonistically gyrating whilst still clinging to bottles of hard liquor with heads full of acid as the sun just begins to peak over the desert plains. The only moment of respite in this eerie and twisted journey comes on designated comedown tracks ‘Price You Pay’ (which is still pretty damn twisted) and ‘Twilight’ featuring 3D of Massive Attack. However, what is missing is the out-and-out lush beauty of Psyence Fiction’s ‘Bloodstain’ or Never, Never, Land’s ‘What Are You To Me?’. This omission means Unkle aren’t playing one of their strongest hands and because of this War Stories sadly doesn’t quite fulfil its electrifying potential.

uberverdict: 7.3/10

‘War Stories’ by Unkle is out now on Surrender All.


Watch the video: 'Burn My Shadow' (feat. Ian Astbury):

[From 'War Stories' Out Now on Surrender All]