Review
Killville was released in 2019 and features 13 classic new Rats’ tracks.
This is a really strong album with good songs and it is so cool to hear a group on top of their game and enjoying themselves. Drummer Riaan Esterhuisen has turned out to be a really inventive musician and he changes his style to fit the mood with ease. Guitarist Gil Gilchrist is also producing some really good licks and riffs and his solos are well executed and controlled. Jonathan Handley has come up with some really good tales as he always does and Dave Davies gives them the heart felt delivery they deserve. Dave’s Jagger/ Pop/ Beefheart vocals are perfectly offset by Jonathan’s higher pitched Marc Bolan-esque backing vocals and that is one of the Radio Rats most endearing qualities. The songs are mostly pop-rock and reminiscent of early Stones and Kinks but there are also a few slower almost lounge jazz songs which are a treat. Lets examine those songs in more detail….
The album gets off to a strong start with the Zappa/Beefheart-esque “Secret Evil Beam Gun” which is harder here than on the live album. “Nicely Crazy” is classic Radio Rats with it’s irreverent humour and it is a really nice and sleazy pop rocker with a really nice brush beat….”she don’t need pills or electricity/to me she is just nicely crazy/the one who’s really coocoo is me” “Bodyguard with a Guitar” features some fine guitar work and solo from Gill and it is quite Stones-ish at times. “Sinister Sister” features Dave doing some Iggy Pop type crooning which works really well with the subject matter. “Haunted” is a semi-acoustic love song before we get to the lounge jazz/swing style of “Azure”. “Cool Breeze” is another lounge jazz styled song with Iggy, I mean Dave crooning again. “Shoulder of the Highway” is a very good Stones/Kinks type pop song with clever lyrics, but then most of Jonathan’s lyrics are clever. “Sweet Suburbia” is another Stones/Kinks styled pop song and like me, you may find the characters sound familiar. “A White picket fence/will be no defence/against a bookless bookcase/ and no common sense…Sweet Suburbia, is only a dream…” “Plastic Trophies” is a good rock song with more good, clean guitar work from Gill. There are two gentle pop/rock songs towards the end of the album and “He Lost His Heard” has more great guitar work while “Days Melt Away” sticks to it’s gentle groove quite irresistibly. The final track, “Let’s Get Rolling” is a bit of a rocker about going down to the sea with your guitar…”on a happy beach/with a happy song/that’s the place/that I belong”.
All in all a very enjoyable album with some really good songs but I just wish that the CD included a lyric sheet or book as the best part of most of these songs are the lyrics. I would give this 4 out of 5 rating, would have been 4.5 if there was a lyric book.
Ernesto Garcia Marques, 15/09/2020, Jive Talking and Eyeballing
Radium Wreckords 