DIRTY LOOKS

I.C.U.

This one is a strange fellow, and to be perfectly honest it’s as varied an album as you will find from Dirty Looks. The material collected here is certainly the heaviest the band has produced and the odd mix of covers, originals and even a growling punk vocal (and thrash baking vocal) on the Turtles cover ‘Happy Together’ makes you wonder what direction they are heading in, or even if they are just standing at the crossroads wondering which way to head whilst taking a few steps down each path just to see. One thing you can say is that it certainly gets you thinking…

The other covers on the album are at least trying to be a little inventive, which I like, but ‘Spirit in the Sky’ has been covered so many times now, and does anyone really need another AC/DC cover?

The originals here are pretty strong though ‘Every Mother’s Child’ is so vintage-AC/DC in flavour you couldn’t tell in the dark. ‘Got a Ticket’ is a hard-edged metallic bone-cruncher with a slow-breaking wave with a mild psychedelic sixties tinge to it which just sounds plain cool; and ‘This Way (Live)’ just has a great driving riff and great vibe. The rest of the new ones are pretty cool too.

It’s may not be another ‘Cool From the Wire’ but the essence of the band that created that minor masterpiece is still there. Just don’t expect it to sound too much like what you might expect from Dirty Looks. One thing though, it’s not bad at all and it is fun to listen to.

Mark