Just because music genres move on doesn’t mean there isn’t still a rich seam to be ploughed through old inspirations, influences, and especially old record collections. And while there is often innovation and freshness to be found at the cutting edge, there is also something great to be found in the familiar. Criminal Hero knows this only too well, and whilst he might be the first to admit that his music isn’t going to change the world, it will without a doubt make your night.
I don’t mean to suggest you have heard it all before; that isn’t the case. It’s just that in the world of music tags and generic labels, an album like Walk Through The Fire is relatively easy to pin on the musical map. Solid, confident, anthemic and energised, punked-out, fired-up, down-and-dirty classic rock ‘n’ roll, shot through with killer riffs and flashes of inspiration, a heady mix of then and now. That doesn’t sound a bad place to find yourself, does it?
‘You Better Believe’ sets the tone immediately…an adrenaline rush of roaring riffery, battering beats, depth-charge bass, and sing-along, fist-in-the-air vocals delivering basic rock-and-roll home truths. Music that kicks arse and cuts the mustard…as they say.
Similarly, ‘She’s to Blame’ sits somewhere between the better-crafted end of Lower East Side first-wave punk and a timeless rock sound…all energy and attitude, swing and swagger…music that moves with the primal prowl and sultry stride that the Gods of Rock ‘n’ Roll intended.
Songs such as ‘I Can Feel You’ show that our Hero understands melodies; the song is both powerful and shaped with a more poised, diamond-in-the-rough quality. And then there is the title track, which comes at you like a four-four freight train, hurtling through the night and barely staying on the tracks, cutting loose and only just maintaining control.
And if rock and Roll is not known for its contribution to high lyrical art, give the words their due, and you find a certain street poetry and a wrong side of the tracks philosophy at work: the perfect balance of stadium-ready shout about infectiousness delivering the raw and rowdy rules of everyday life.
Here’s an analogy for you. Just because we have car brands like Tesla constantly anticipating the future, all slick and clean and smuggly forward thinking, doesn’t mean that a battered old pickup truck isn’t still a lot of fun. Of course, in this analogy, Walk Through The Fire is the sound of Criminal Hero off-roading this tried, tested and indestructible machine down the dirt tracks and wild places of the musical map, places where such fancy cars could never go!
Drop the needle on the record, and you get to ride in the passenger seat next to him. Strap in and hold on tight now…
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