Television, the drug of the nation breeding ignorance and feeding radiation … someone once wrote. On a similar dystopian tip may I present to you Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats Wasteland. If I tell you it is a loose concept LP about misinformation and programming the thoughts of the populace, then please don’t go running for the hills, it is ace.
I belatedly fell for the primal charms of Blood Lust and missed out on the next two Uncle Acid LPs as a result, before being persuaded by my mate Martin to give Wasteland a go when it came out in 2018. I’m bloody glad I did too.
As ever Rise Above Records give us plenty of good stuff to compliment the music, lovely orange vinyl, excellent Clockwork Orange-style LP cover, car sticker and a neat lyric/credit/concept insert headed ‘Program Disc 5: Manual’*. All lovely, but does Wasteland rock? Spoiler Alert: of course it does.
The best and most straight-forward rocker on Wasteland is ‘Shockwave City’, which from the title on in is a cracker. It explodes outwards from the speakers like a, um, shockwave blowing everything aside – sounding a little like I always thought KISS should sound like, when I just knew what they looked like. It is hooky, heavy and righteous, Kevin Starrs plays some great guitar flourishes around the edges of the tune too.
Elsewhere we get atmospheric opener ‘I See Through You’ which gives us some good steady widescreen scene-setting and the moody ‘No Return’. Then we go full Iron Maiden on ‘Blood Runner’ and it is absolutely excellent too – all twin guitar intent** and rhythmic galloping as you’d expect from a band who cover ‘Remember Tomorrow’.
Side 2 opener, the sinister ‘Stranger Tonight’ kicks down the doors and boasts some absolutely excellent guitaring. Better still is the acoustic-led ‘Wasteland’ which builds up to an inexorable climax, leading into the prog-rock tinged ‘Bedouin’, which boasts another excellent guitar coda. Then, finally ‘Exodus’ which I like because it has some sharper, wilder edges than most of the other tracks here.
As always with anything vaguely concept-y I tend to ignore that aspect of it and just enjoy the music – mostly because after 31 years I still struggle to adequately explain all the nuances of Operation: Mindcrime. The lyrics and concept are both good here – who knew you could program people through constant exposure to certain ‘truths’ and make them act in certain ways?!
Wasteland is a good, solid rock LP. It doesn’t beat Blood Lust for me as my favourite Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats album but I do like it. The production, also by Kevin Starrs, is very good as is all the musicianship. The one area which could be improved for me are the vocals, they end up sounding quite samey over the course of the whole LP, that slightly treated quality. I would love to hear them add someone appropriately leather-lunged, male or female, to their arsenal, I really think it would kick the band up another notch into the stratosphere.
Heavy, dark, well-played, melodic and well thought out this Wasteland ain’t a bad place to be.
1050 Down.
PS: Really like this fan made video for ‘No Return’:
PPS: Very good interview with Kevin Starrs here. He’s an interesting guy.
*it is Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats 5th LP, I have literally just worked that bit out after owning it for 2 years.
**Maiden before Janick Gers then, you pedants!
I was just listening to something yesterday that used the lyric from your first sentence. But I forgot who.
(Mate, sentiment aside, you gotta get a decent turntable)
Haha, that’s turntable #4 in the house – the one that sits in the room I work in. I spend a lot of my work time spinning singles.
Concentration span of 2’30”?
Often less, plus less chance of having to leap for the volume switch/raise the tone arm if I have to take a call,
There’s a new COVID era Olympic sport, right there.
Started singing The Who song early on and got a bit distracted…
Until the utter joy and untrammelled excitement of seeing where Mrs Clanger lives when not working as a popular North Wales DJ.
I feel like I’m on MTV cribs.
Excellent stuff. I haven’t heard this one… only have Blood Lust and Mind Control and keep meaning to check out some more.
I only have Blood Lust and this one. Is Mind Control worth it too?
I can recommend this one.
Oh aye, Mind Control is great – definitely worth your time.
Coooooool!!! I’m in!
Stoner Rock and Jannick Gers. Makes perfect sense!
Janick moves around far too much to be stoned.
Fairy Dust?
Not sure I’m informed enough to comment on this album as my parents were only into Meatloaf and Queen! Well, actually my mum was into Meatloaf and Queen, my dad was still living out his Bill Haley and Gene Vincent days. But you’re post gave me that fuzzy mogadon glow of nostalgia. What did us old punks and rockers listen too before we were musically woke (spit)?
Before punk gave me an extreme case of musical locked-in syndrome, I would listen to my parents music and the top twenty. I remember every hated Sunday, standing in front of a coal fire after sharing a tepid bath with my four brothers, listening to whatever the charts would throw out. Calling occupants of interplanetary craft was a favourite- as I hoped the bastards who had dropped me in this planet would suddenly remember and come back for me. Unfortunately they’ve been busy in some intergalactic dispute and not been back this way in some time.
Elvis Presley was also another favourite- mainly from those wonderful movies The Colonel so selflessly went out of his way to bring to us, showcasing not just his musical brilliance but his awesome acting skills. ‘What skills?’ I hear you shout. Elvis could have easily been a better Brando, I shit you not. Imagine The King, head shaved, rising up from the body-souped Asian waters surrounding his death cult HQ, and bursting into a cheerful little number entitled ‘The Horror of You.’
I coulda bin something in the film world.
Then of course there was The Sweet and Gary Glitter… my big sister was into both. Despite a close shave backstage as a fifteen year old with the sparkly paedo, she still loved the wiggy pervert and his high-rise boots. I myself loved The Sweet, who I later found out, could really rock! I even had my long blonde locks styled like Brian!
Ballroom Blitz is still a fav especially after its rebuzz on Wayne’s World.(She’s a robobabe!)
Oh those happy days before the Stranglers and the Pistols took away my hair, my flares and my live music virginity.
And there was I strolling along, minding my own business…
Some cool stoner rock!
Yup, from a very good British band too.