How do, it’s been a while since I put pen to pad, or indeed fingers to keyboard and seeing as Class has updated you with recent events on the road in his recent blog I thought I’d go for a different flavour and give you an insider’s view on the Bombs magnum opus Mass Vendetta.
This blog which I have entitled ‘Veneration of the Vendetta’ due to it, in short, being the album I’ve been looking forward to getting my greasy mitts on for the past year. Ever since I heard the bare bones of the tracks being fleshed out in the SB rehearsal room, not even the likes of recent releases by Micheal Monroe, Backyard Babies, Iron Maiden or even my beloved Scorpions have had me grinning like a pierced up Cheshire cat, or mumbling the lyrics at work which has drawn concerned looks from colleagues who just don’t get rock ‘n’ roll. Anyhow onwards with the blog, each song will get a rundown with my personal favourite parts mentioned and comparisons to other bands if applicable. So, without further ado, I give you 2016's best album... Mass Vendetta.
1. Trailblazer
A hi-hat count to introduce the album, which Class drew inspiration from ‘Back in Black’ for, leads into a real foot-stomper. Having passed the acid test of being played live already I’m sure this will be in the set for a long time. The lyrics tell of a world in need of a hero, as of yet unnamed, and musically it harks back to the 70s/80s, based around a bluesy riff and a meaty chug. This, however, is not a straight-up race-to-the-finish rock song, it mellows after the second chorus giving Joey a chance to show his versatility vocally going from his signature rasp to a cleaner more powerful vocal before more gang shouts give way to a final lyrical snarl from our JC. I don’t have a personal favourite lyric as such on this song as the whole thing blends into one kick-ass rock song with lots of excellent rhymes involved, but if pushed I’m going to say "signatures in crimson on the asphalt". The delivery and attitude of this song hits you like a curb stomp on said asphalt and leaves you reeling on the ropes praying that track 2 won’t be as heavy... yeah, good luck with that my friend.
2. Mainstream
The first tune off this album that was introduced in the live set and, like Trailblazer, is going to be sticking around a while, so get yourself 
acquainted with the lyric book and shout that chorus loud. When Class told me in early 2015 that he had written a tune based on how the media influences our day-to-day lives, but had written it incorporating lullabies like ‘Rock-a-bye-baby’, I was incredibly sceptical. What’s next a song about 9/11 based on ‘Humpty Dumpty’, or maybe a thesis on the Vatican scandals based on little Jack Horner. Despite my reservations the song kicks major league ass and isn’t a million miles away from the kind of output you would expect from the Bombs. Scotty continues to hit hard, Damien wrestles the rhythm as if he just caught it stealing his last cigarette, whilst Gibbons attacks the lead as if he just caught it nicking his bag of crisps (if you haven’t read any previous blogs, JG lives on crisps with extra salt and Dr Pepper), all the while Class sounds like a Norse god gargling gravel. Lovely stuff to follow a solid opener and another one that’s gonna get feet stomping and heads rocking.
3. Train Wreck
An oddity in the fact it’s only 1 of 2 songs (the other being Wedlock Horns) that doesn’t follow the theme of the album. It’s an excellent hard rock song and it's also a little faster than the two openers with a lot more punk attitude to boot. The song is simply about a band having a bad gig, which the Bombs have had their fair share in years gone by (mainly due to the infamous antics of the Kage brothers). JG really makes his SG wail on this track, especially on the pre-chorus to accompany Class's train whistles around the 3/4 way in. As the song title suggests there are a few nice little locomotive metaphors in this song a stand out being "the excitement grows now they’re off the rails, no slowing down once the brakeman fails". This will again, no doubt, be in the set for a while to come and will probably take the place of a song such as So Cavalier or Nine of Hearts. A sweet track which, as much as it isn’t my favourite, will certainly wake any docile in the audience up with a bang... BOOM! Lovely stuff once again.
4. Out West
Right now this is where things get interesting. Send the kids out to play and tell the missus to go shopping, this song not only deserves your attention, it demands it. A real favourite of the SB5 for good reason as it’s a complete departure to what the first 3 tunes give you and probably shows off the guitarists skill and dexterity more than anything they have done before. Best way to describe it, Southern hard rock with a commercial edge, as Joey hangs up his punk rock vocal chords and straps on his whiskey soaked blues voice. I don’t think he will mind me saying this but this tune almost makes his voice sound delicate whilst maintaining full control of his growing range, as the chorus proves when he trails off to a really cool high range I’ve not heard from him too much and I sincerely hope he utilises that more often on future releases. Anyhow it’s not just vocals that shine through on here, the lyrics are just fantastic and read almost like a novel with the line "nuclear bombs for firework displays, I guess our future will be bright" really popping out for me. It maintains a cool laid back swagger that I can’t wait to hear live and I think this will be one song that stops the rocking out and makes everyone take note of the talent they will be witnessing. Oh yeah, I almost forgot, the little guitar parts are so damn tasteful it's crazy, someone best give Eddie Van Halen a bell and tell him to get a lesson off Gibbons because THAT, my friends, is how you play lead. Fucking outstanding work and we are only 4 songs in. (also worth noting the illustration in the lyric book for this song really pops in my mind as a killer T-shirt design).
5. Mass Vendetta
Title track time and it’s back to familiar territory for the SB, straight up punk rock ‘n’ roll in the style of the Backyard Babies with Class even sounding like Nicke Borg. Short choppy chord changes build to a shouty chorus and a bitching guitar solo which will knock the tits off any audience it is unleashed on in the future. The second shortest song on the album but in the space of 2.59 Class has squeezed a ton of excellent similes and metaphors which go against the song writing rule of find a theme and stick to it as he goes off on many tangents my favourite being opener "Love is a solitary rose in the middle of a wasteland". The chorus speaks of how we as humans have been killing each other since the bloodline was established many centuries ago, it begins to explain the album title and the general theme running throughout this album. A sleeper hit this one for me, not my favourite but once it’s on it’s like the Chernobyl nuclear explosion, a bit powerful to say the least.
6. 13 Days
Just over the half-way point now and this song is a Ramones-ish, straight up punk rock, with lyrics about having God crashing on your couch for thirteen days after being found passed out on your lawn... confused? Don’t be, it’s a great tune and is actually about the death of religion being told as if God had thrown the towel in whist giving glimpses of truth to the author. This little ditty clocks in at only 2.15 making it the shortest tune on the album and a real ball of energy all round, the tempo reminds me of ‘Phantom High’ and would fit very nicely on that EP if it had not been on this album. This could be the a hit single if released just before summer, its bouncy enough for the commercial radio and heavy enough to keep the old guard happy . Something I’d like to see on a T-shirt with the back print being all the lyrics. The whole band is on fire at this point as the rhythm is kept super tight and had me grinning since I heard it in early rehearsals. Excellent tune, very fun indeed.
7. Avalanche
Ah, now this is yet another departure from the rock n roll, my personal favourite track on the album and one that always had me asking for repeat plays on the road in 2015. Scott's stand out track as well I think as that simplistic tribal drum beat puts me in mind of Ginger Baker, Paul Ferguson or maybe even early Dave Barbarossa and I feel has a certain hypnotic quality to it. Sparse is a good word to use on this as it’s not a heavy tune in terms of speed or lighting fast licks, but in terms of mood, ambience and space it stands out as a top track along-side Out West. I could almost describe the guitars as a little Floyd-esque (the Waters/Gilmour era, not that hippy trippy early shit) making use of many effects and weaving between each other like an orgy of rattlesnakes, sliding and intertwining, combining to make a huge wall of sound that takes over you as the song goes on. My favourite part of the song is no doubt the Gregorian monk-like ‘Woahs’ featured throughout, almost haunting in their nature they add hugely to the overall melancholic feel of the song which again is something you don’t usually get from The Senton Bombs. Lyrically it focuses on how we are awaiting an avalanche of truth to fall down on us from a great height which we may not be able to handle "Some say man is part divine but for an urge to remain blind" is just a brilliant lyric and is possibly my favourite on the album. Superb stuff.
8. Pretty Tricky
Wow! Now this is back to business with a bang, best typical sounding Bombs song ever, with nods again to Backyard Babies, Gluecifer and all the good bands from the snowy lands. JG rips it up as the song feels like a sledgehammer to the cranium or a hit from a 12-gauge. Rammed full of gang shouts this song live will be mega and something I’d like to see as an opener of a set, that’s if Scott can refrain from breaking all his sticks in one song. Man it’s powerful. On a comical note, I’m going to quote this tune when Scott gets a coffee kicked out his hand "Temper, Temper fight the rage, lock that loathing in a cage".
9. Wedlock Horns
Do this for me if you will dear reader, play this song but imagine it’s 1987 in New York City, Madison Square Garden to be precise. Aerosmith are stepping onstage for a second encore, Steve Tyler is at his best writhing and thrusting himself up and down his mic stand whilst Joe Perry and the boys are strutting their way along the vanity ramps and the super expansive stage set up, pouting and giving it high kicks to the cheers and wails of the audience baying like wolves at feeding time... does this song not fit that image so well? It’s the third part in the southern rock trilogy and the influence from the boys from Boston is strong indeed. A cracking story which is already about 3 years old and as per the other two from the ‘Devil Trilogy’ it was written for a duet with female vocals. Thankfully it’s now a fully-fledged SB classic with wicked lyrics about marrying the Devils’ daughter but all the while being played by the pair of them. My favourite line has to be "The priest was a beast and I was the feast, just another dumb golden calf, OWWW". Total Tyler all the way this tune. Outstanding.
10. Red Shield
Another leap into the unknown for you lucky people. A narrative style song with a funky intro, not to dissimilar from a dark RHCP I think. Simple but way effective, this song reminds me of what Sabaton do for a living by giving you a history lesson to music. The whole song is one of my favourite lyrics ever and a sure-fire live favourite. Something that you don’t hear much of, if at all, on the underground rock scene and a lyric video HAS to happen at some point in the future. The theme is about the Rothschild family who have for centuries held the world to ransom and control just about everything in the world so stick that in your pipe and smoke it to anyone who gets involved in petty politics talk about Cameron, Corbyn and other such puppets. Has to be heard to be believed this song. Amazing.
11. Apex
Ah, the final curtain is upon us, just in time to sit back and marvel at the beauty of this masterpiece whilst reaching for the repeat button. One of the last songs to be written, and in terms of SB history, one of the heaviest tunes they have done and certainly leaning more towards metal. It goes to show, as much as they are known as punk rock and rollers, give them a challenge and they will out-metal any of these foolish, down-tuned to fuckery, uber-boring tech metal bands, which unfortunately plague the scene nowadays. Ultimately, a cracking track and a set closer for sure, Fantastic.
Well that’s all about I’ve got to say on the new album, but don’t just take my word for it, go and buy the damn thing and improve your life dramatically in the process. The next couple of years will be very interesting in terms of what good fortune the album brings the band and I hope you all enjoy it as much I’ve enjoyed hearing it made. From rehearsal stage, to demo, to guesting on the gang shouts, to hearing it on the road to decide running order, to now, as I hold the finished album in my hands, complete with amazing artwork thanks to top man and uber-talent Dean Reilly. I’ll finish up with a quote I said to Class not long back...
"Mass Vendetta is a melting pot of bombast and brilliance, that’s educational yet still amazingly cool"
Well played my Senton Brothers.