Graft ain't enough in this business. Yeah, your name gets around when you play the likes of the Glastonbury and Isle Of Wight Festivals and sign on for lengthy tours as guests to British Sea Power and The Vines, but reputations are only sealed when you come up with the goods on record.
This is a fact moody Londoners THE DUKE SPIRIT have plainly grasped with both hands, as "Cuts Across The Land" is surely the jewel in the crown of their current live set and the obvious choice as the follow-up to the edgily effective "Dark Is Light Enough."
Like "Dark...", "Cuts Across The Land" clocks in at a primed and drilled three minutes or so. Led by Olly Betts' cavernous drums, tightrope-walking basslines and tightly meshed, chromatically-inclined guitar work from Luke Ford and Dan Higgins, it's a monolithic rumble, but tempered by immediacy and Liela Moss's throaty vocals. Coming on like a cross between a young Siouxsie and "Dry"-era PJ Harvey, there's something about the way her voice straddles sassiness and abject boredom that's really beguiling, and with it's "I'll suck you in" catchline, "Cuts Across The Land" is something you'll not forget in a hurry.
|
The Duke Spirit will be involved in a head-to-head live showdown with everyone's current reigning champs Razorlight by the time you read this, but on this form they certainly won't be pushovers for Borrell's boys. "Cuts Across The Land" is both their best shot yet and a promising signpost to what The Duke Spirit could achieve in the near future.
|
