A smorgasbord of styles and genres to sink your teeth into.
Having avoided all notions of the Scouts movement as a youngster, to my eternal shame I'm useless with knots but at least any quips about scouting for boys or those horrible uniforms pass me by.
Who knows if any member of Scouts Honour wore the woggle with pride but their latest release 'I Am The Dust' would no doubt earn them a badge for varied musical influences with relative ease.
Opener 'Devil's Serenade' packs in an unbelievable amount of influences. From the Dylan-esque folk intro and the blue slide guitar break, the main body of the song throttles and screams like your darkest nightmare and the juxtaposition of these ideas leave the listener reeling but intrigued for more.
The confusion isn't lightened by 'Canvas' following on with a bass-line sounding like it came from the score of "Jaws" but by the time the vocals kick in, the thread of the album starts to become clear and the musical pattern starts to take shape.
There is a chugging drive to this album that will be appreciated by fans of heavy or impassioned music. So often the bass thunders on, chewing out big riffs and lines underscoring each song and always banging away in the background. Even when the other instrumentation takes a more casual approach, the bass can be relied upon to chase the songs along.
For those fans of a more timid nature, never fear as there is something for all here. 'The Sun Won't Set In The West' is a grizzled blues track and comes across more like The Soledad Brothers than any modern hardcore act. A lot of this lies in the varied vocals on display. With other tracks receiving the throaty growled deliveries, this track offers some lighter more melodic showings, with even a quivering spoken monologue offering some relief.
The variety contained within the record carries it along at a great pace and refuses to allow the listener to become bored with anything. As the guitars lurch and the cymbals tap and crash around, it's almost fun to try and second guess where each track is going to go next.
The eclectic nature of the songs even extends into country, and the gnarled and grizzled emotion of 'The Songs They Sing' shines and fizzles greatly as well.
Whether there is too much variation to allow Scouts Honour to gather a fanatical following remains to be seen but what is available on this record has a swagger and confidence that should find favour with many.