Welsh rockers SCARLET REBELS surprised us with their solid debut album a couple years ago, and the band’s new effort ”See Through Blue” confirms the rebels quality as unit and songwriters. With a traditional hard rock style and a big, polished production sound, the new 11 tracks rock like Hell.
Frontman Wayne Doyle was watching TV in the middle of the pandemic when he found his anger rising. Some faceless British politician – he can’t remember which one, mainly because they mostly look the same – was shamelessly taking credit for footballer Marcus Rashford’s successful campaign to reinstate free school meals for children during those difficult times. This state of affairs inspired the title track of the five-piece stellar new album.
This, then, is a band with a social conscience and sense of justice, something too lacking in bands too afraid to take a shot at such wide-open goals.
Scarlet Rebels’ musical template is the sound of classic hard rock, with melody all over. The boogie is strong in album opener ‘I’m Alive’ and their ethics and integrity are firmly in place on ‘These Days’, an anthem of optimism and hope.
‘Leave A Light On’ is specifically designed for lighters-aloft action, while ‘Take It’ rocks with a potent riff and a kick azz chorus. The title track nails its political colours to the mast, while the air-punching ‘I Can Sleep Now’ shows that there’s fun to be had in dissent.
‘We’re Going Nowhere’ is a straight up rocking song and as usual the chorus is instantly singable, while ‘Everything Changed’ is all about the bass and drums, but again it’s also fuelled by another stonking chorus.
There is good reason why Earache Records signed Scarlet Rebels, and that reason is ‘See Through Blue’. It’s early January 2022, and this is one of the best rocking albums so far. It’s a rare these days for bands to get better with each and every album. OK this is only No.2, but these guys are onto something.
01 – I’m Alive
02 – Storm
03 – London Story
04 – These Days
05 – Take You Home
06 – I Can Sleep Now
07 – I Can’t Say
08 – Take It
09 – Leave A Light On
10 – We’re Going Nowhere
11 – Everything Changed
12 – See Through Blue
Wayne Doyle – Vocals, Guitar
Chris Jones – Lead Guitar
Josh Townshend – Guitar
Wayne ‘Pricey’ Esmonde – Bass
Gary Doyle – Drums
Scarlet Rebels – See Through Blue (2022)
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