You just know when something is going to be old school. The signs are always there like when a band supplies their new single with a hand scrawled note that states that “we don’t do CDs or that digital mp3 nonsense”. That band is Velvetbomb and, with “The Land of Doom and Dread”, they solidify their position as the Honest Johns of the Glasgow rock scene.
Being a two up guitars and drums outfit, there isn’t a great deal of leeway for variety so Velvetbomb duly follow a well-trodden path. However, if a band were to have fire in their belly, some macho theatricality and a depleted uranium core then they can make that straight down the line approach work and that’s exactly what Velvetbomb do with “The Land of Doom and Dread”. Play it loud and you will be driven to join them and kick it down the streets like you were seventeen again.
On the flipside is, well, the flipside in the true sense of the word. “Zombie Eyes” is all acoustic and reflective with nothing more than a guitar and an impassioned voice singing the kind of song that has always been sung on the flipside of any self-respecting rock band’s single. It’s just the thing to persuade the girl to take you home in the hope of becoming your muse.
The single is a limited edition of 300 on white vinyl and, no, you can’t have my copy.