Crooked Heart is a brilliant piece for British rock!
One thing springs to mind when listening to Crooked Heart the new album from Recluse, the fact it sounds a lot like Queens of the Stone Age and that's not necessarily a bad thing. It's been a long time since the British scene has genuinely had some decent rock music, as most of it these days is shipped in from America.
Come on Over introduces the album quite well with some skilfully crafted guitar work combining beautifully with drums before being kicked into over drive and being given vocals that just mould together with the music. All the songs are genuinely infectious and stay in your head forcing you to either tap away or sing along randomly.
The beginning of All of a Sudden is strange, an echoing of the tune is played which sends the ears awry, making it feel like your brain might melt at any minute and drip from your ears onto the surrounding areas around you...which isn't a bad thing believe it or not.
The band are clearly big fans of long instrumentals as they're dotted throughout the album, but they're so intense and complex that you don't find yourself getting bored, more loving every minute of it, especially during Dirty Blonde.
There are definite influences that lie within Recluse, big names like Foo Fighters and White Stripes make an appearance in their music but what separates Recluse from other bands available on the market today is that they're not producing the same thing that everyone else is, they're offering a fresh dose of what was released a long time ago.
Hush is one of the bands more quieter pieces, using an acoustic guitar with soft drumming and a smooth bass line, while the singer sings softly into the microphone. It's always nice to have a change of pace on a rock album; more than anything it gives a reflection on the rest of the songs.
There is always a point of listening to an album and thinking one song sounds like another, this is not the case for Recluse, every song is unique and is done justice. They offer the British music scene a fighting chance with this album. Amazing guitar riffs put into great songs, making this an album to be listened to by any fan of rock.