Written by Dom Daley
Posted: Friday, 12 August 2011
Mighty Shakers - 'The Hang Of It' (Feedback Sound Records)
Lowdown, dirty, sleazy rock 'n' roll isn't something you normally associate with Athens, Greece; maybe Athens, Georgia, home of the Biters but Greece? Here to prove me wrong are the Mighty Shakers coming on like the bastard child of Andy McCoy and the Ramones who've been banished to live with their relatives and force fed a diet of old school Heartbreakers and the content of Legs McNeil's 'Please Kill Me'.
'The Hang Of It' has all the ingredients needed to be one hell of an album, full to bursting with fine, fine songs. You can hear the band's influences in this collection of songs but they manage to steer clear of outright copying and have managed to pen thirteen slabs of sped up, rocked out material and is an impressive introduction as to how these Greeks roll.
Things start off well with the Ramones/Backyard Babies inspired 'Play Your Game' but the album seemed to grow stronger and stronger and by the middle section of 'Aint Got Time' and 'Singing This Song' I was sittin' up nodding like the Churchill dog as the chorus and arrangement were grabbing a hold of me like they'd used the Force to infiltrate the part of my brain that just loves rock 'n' roll. 'Your Girlfriend Is In Love With Me', with its Yaffa-style bass throb and hypnotic guitar lick, had me desperately trying to resist the temptation to press the repeat button and just continue on with the rest of the album. Like Skywalker I was able to channel the Force and repel any dark urges and make it through the rest of the album.
An old school hard luck tale, 'Everytime You Hear Me Howl', has it all as the track builds to a huge 12 bar romp and stomp, magnifico! Or should that be υπέροχη rock 'n' roll σκασίματα (magnificent rock 'n' roll chaps) or at least I hope that's what it says. These boys realise that you can't have Rock without the Roll and sometimes songs need to breath and have a little light and shade to make it work and just hope that those that have gone before are watching down on what you do and are prepared to sprinkle some of that magic rock 'n' roll dust on a record to give it that little X Factor. Mighty Shakers have that with snatches of Ramones and Hanoi smudged with a bit of classic rock and the right amount of Pistols punk all wrapped together with a twist of Backyard Babies. Not everyone who plays this style gets it right and quite often miss the point. The be all and end all is the music and Mighty Shakers have understood that what makes a damn good album is simply writing damn good songs and the proof is in the playback and here we have thirteen of the bleeders.
Hats off to Johnny Ted because he has a gift for this rock 'n' roll malarkey so all that's left for me to do is recommend that you check these bad boys then you'll know exactly what I mean. Μόνο rock n 'roll, αλλά μουαρέσει (OK you lazy gits it says - It's only rock n roll but I like it).
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