Kicks And Diablolik Licks is the final album by Damned Guitar legend Brian James who wanted it to be a celebration of the Italian Giallo film movement. He recorded the album at Black Rock Subway Studios in Brighton with Austen Gayten engineering it. He is backed by Austen Gayton, Malcolm Mortimer, Dave Caveman O'Brian, Steve Murray, Mark Taylor, Ramona Wilkins Carlier, Alan Clayton and Pilly. The album was completed a few weeks before Brian passed away and is a fitting swan song for a legendary guitarist and songwriter who was a true Rock & Roller till the end.
The album clatters into life with In the Blood that sounds loosely jammed rock with some cracking guitar over Brian's almost spoken film narration, that has a louche almost Nikki Sudden feel to them, but it's all about what the guitars are doing over the steady as can be backing.
Soho opens with the band finding its way into the song, finding the riff and beat and sort of wandering around above and below it, while Brian tells some Soho tales while they find the musical voodoo to celebrate all the night's he spent in soho, before it goes all stooges meets the Diabolik's, frantic like they have all just snorted something.
Giallo Yellow is inspired by the Giallo film movement, this has a dark keyboard and bass driven riff for Brian to celebrate Giallo Yellow over with some menace and loads of love, that explodes into a punk guitar freak out in the louchest ways it can manage with that organ eventually coming to the fore.
So Sad Sonny is a dark crime move set to loose jammed blues and grind rock and roll with Alan Clayton helping out on the vocals while this grooves and rocks the guitars shooting bullets all over the place this builds to a big showdown.
Dance With Me is seductively sung by Ramona Wilkins Carlier of her premonitions of the sordid love affair they will share with the Lords Of The New Church apostles, over the slow wood block and piano they saunter towards the inevitable laid back blues figure guitar, hypnotizing you into that briefest of elusive encounters.
Ida Strong is a slow pulsing keyboard rhythmic chant for Ida Strong his feelings explode, through his guitar splintering notes across the room, explaining what he does and doesn't want from her.
Happy Families (A/K/A Zombie Song) is worked around a Bo Diddley beat and a helping of gris gris, for this chant of the Zombie existence, like it is the narration at the start of a film about Zombie Virgins, action unfolding around sets as shaky as this sometimes feels, stuttering like Zombies around the room while they play.
The Bonus Too Hot To Pop Ep of bonus tracks of favourite covers is brilliantly essential listening, opening with Around And Around the Chuck Berry monument, they attack it like a demented psycho garage band, rave it up, revving it up to 100 mph and be damned, it's clear the band are having a real cool time, just cooking and going for it, having a total rave up.
Route 66 is given similar treatment with Alan Clayton bursting with energy, he wails through this classic and tries not to get overwhelmed by the 100% true rock & roll spirited playing, going on behind him, this is a great example of how to cover a song, that is almost impossible to add something too, just blasting it out with a smile and sass.
Long Tall Shorty throbs with rocking energy totally revved up, surging along allowing Long Tall Shorty to make his getaway, On Don Covay's addition to the numerous songs about Shorty just listen to what that guitar is saying. The ep and album then closes with Livin' Doll that opens with Brian singing over an accordion, he could be in a Lionel Bart Musical, telling this tale almost like a grandad talking to his young granddaughter, eventually an almost Skiffle style drummer joins in working to a poignant ending somehow making the lyrics sound innocent.
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