It’s great to see The James Warner Prophecies back with a new album, especially as their last one was (checks notes) over a decade ago. But I can forgive their tardiness because they have always been a band that I loved. And, as I sit here pondering just what it is about them that warms my heart so much, as a way of kicking off this review, I have come to an interesting revelation. What they do so well is not, as most bands would, try to create a new path of rock music (in its broadest meaning) to go down, force it into places that it has no business going down, but because they stay true to the sound and spirit of rock music whilst writing songs that are better than their contemporaries. (If you don’t believe me, just give this new release a spin; you’ll come around to my way of thinking.) In short, they don’t push forward unnecessarily; they dig down brilliantly.
And this perfect balance of the fresh and the familiar is more than evident on their new album, Paint The Grey. It kicks off with the blistering “This Year”, a song that blends some byzantine metal sonics and big vocal choruses with the sort of big, accessible guitar riffs that The Wildhearts would have knocked you to the ground to get their hands on, a perfect way to set out their musical stall.
“Evileye” is a Celtic folk ballad dressed up in some shiny new and robust sonics. The title track is punchy yet poised alt-rock groover, a heads-down-no-nonsense, fist-in-the-air, beer-on-the-floor anthem if ever there was one. “Idiot Plot” is what modern metal would sound like if it stopped showing off, overplaying, acting big and clever, and just got on with the honest business of writing powerful and incendiary, riff-driven songs.
Knowing what frontman Joe does when he is not making sweet music, the final, heartfelt and hymnal, “An Ambulance Prayer (a verse in green),” is a lovely way to play things out.
As I said, James Warner Prophecies are great not because they are trying to make rock and roll something that it isn’t but because they are taking everything that is already good about it and using those elements to write some brilliant songs. It might seem like a simple concept, but try it and see what you come up with. It won’t be a patch on Paint The Grey, I’ll wager.
