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Album review: Black Spiders – ‘Cvrses’

By Alex Goose

The Sheffield quintet show no signs of aging on album five!

Isn’t rock n’ roll supposed to be a young person’s game? Then how come so many of the old guard are doing such a great job of breathing new life into the genre? A case in point: Sheffield rockers Black Spiders, who are about to unleash a beast of a fifth album in ‘Cvrses’, and who only seem to have become ever leaner, meaner and hungrier since forming back in 2008.

The signs were promising with recent track ‘Out Of Order’ (which doesn’t actually appear on ‘Cvrses’). It belts along at a relentless pace; the title is repeated at least 30 times in the lyrics; it confirms that all is business as usual in the Black Spiders camp…and business is good. Great, in fact.

The record kicks off with ‘Never Enough’, a slice of swaggering garage rock which could, appropriately enough, soundtrack things kicking off – perhaps outside the local hard men’s boozer after last orders. It wouldn’t be pretty, and indeed most of ‘Cvrses’ isn’t either, but my goodness, it doesn’t half get the adrenaline flowing. From here on in, it’s quite a ride.

The heavier Black Spiders lean on their punk/rock n’ roll influences, the more spectacular the results. ‘Sorry Not Sorry’ rides in on some crunchy power chords and no shortage of go-fuck-yourself attitude (“not really sorry, not even close”), and ‘Tom Petty’s Lips’ is music to strut to, no doubt about it. ‘Go’, meanwhile, conjures up a sonic picture of Motörhead wrestling Turbonegro for the last bottle of whiskey in some darkened, ultra-seedy dive bar; an event that should have taken place and – sadly – never will, but here’s the ideal soundtrack. 

Elsewhere, ‘Idol Hands’ and ‘No Superman’ are proof that these guys are still masters of the riff, and they even successfully try their hand at a ballad of sorts on ‘Día De Muertos’. No soppy, lighters-in-the-air shit here; it’s a black-hearted tribute to loved ones who have passed, and every note is steeped in ominous atmospherics. World-weariness too often spills over into jadedness, but not here: Black Spiders have long mastered their own brand of cynical humour.

Throw in a couple of bizarre – but entertaining – spoken-word skits, and the overall impression is that Black Spiders would be foolish to ease up or – worse still – call it a day when they still sound so damn driven. Young bucks of rock n’ roll, the ball is in your court, and frankly, we don’t envy you having to come up with something to rival ‘Cvrses’.

‘Cvrses’ will be released on February 28th via Dark Riders/Cargo Distribution – order the CD or vinyl version HERE

  1. Never Enough
  2. Cool Reaper
  3. Sorry Not Sorry
  4. Idol Hands
  5. Tom Petty’s Lips
  6. Castille De La Roja Skit
  7. Dia De Muertos
  8. No Superman
  9. Go
  10. Up All Night
  11. Curses Skit
  12. Grey
  13. The Mofo Sauce
  14. Rotten To The Core
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