SOiL
Title: Play It Forward
Label: Cleopatra records
Release date: 26th August
Chicago rockers SOiL are into their third decade and are giving their fans a special treat with songs that have inspired them over the years. This is angst-filled like a rottweiler with a sore head as Tom Petty’s “Runnin Down A Dream” opens things up, with its killer moves to have you moving your feet and singing along as Ryan McCombs vocals boom outta ya speakers, this is a catchy opener that neatly goes into White Zombies “Thunder Kiss 65” fuck yeah, this sounds better than the original in my humble opinion as Tim Kings Bass and T.J Taylors Drums pound into the room while Zadel makes his guitar scream this is killer!
Then the piece de resistance is the cover of Halsey’s “Nightmare” McCombs mixes anger with passion on this track its superb and had me checking out the original version, not being au fait with pop music, this version knocks it out the park, and then some, and nicely sums up my life right now lol!
Next, we have “No Voices in the sky” by Motorhead is given a workout and ticks all the boxes and has you punching the air and banging your head. The band has truly put their mark on this one and Zadels amazing guitar work makes this a firm winner on here too. “Snap your fingers snap your neck” by prong rocks up next with its slower tempo this deep and grungy groove indeed has you doing as the song title says.
The Foo Fighters' “Monkey Wrench” in honor of Taylor Hawkins bounces into the room and works its magic, a truly outstanding tune and covered well by SOiL. “What it’s like” lyrical theme has always touched a nerve and sends shivers up my spine this version is stellar and even better than the original by Everlast.
Bam let’s have some Ramones as “I wanna be sedated “ has ya pogoing around the room and really pissing off your neighbors even more! Neil Young's “Rockin in the free world” has to be one of the songs that everyone should listen to its magic and these Chicago rockers truly do it justice, hell yeah, if this doesn’t have you singing along my friend you don’t have a pulse!
The penultimate track "Unsung” by Helmet fires on all cylinders and gets an amazing makeover then we get to the final track which is “Black Betty” by Ram Jam sorry guys I can’t stand this song, but having given it a go it’s a hundred times better than 1977 original, with more meat and heavy bones added to the mix.
I can’t recommend “Play it forward “enough, it will blow away those Monday blues and make a weekend even better 24-7.
PLAY THIS MUTHA LOUD!
Reviewer: Seb Di Gatto
Review 14.08.2022 Score: 9/10
Track list
1. Runnin' Down A Dream
2. Thunder Kiss '65
3. Nightmare
4. No Voices In The Sky
5. Snap Your Fingers Snap Your Neck
6. Monkey Wrench
7. What It's Like
8. I Wanna Be Sedated
9. Rockin' In The Free World
10. Unsung
11. Black Betty
Line up:
Adam Zadel – guitars, backing vocals
Tim King – bass, backing vocals
Ryan McCombs – lead vocals
T.J. Taylor – drums
Official Website: www.soiltheband.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/soilmusic
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/soil_official
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/soiltheband