Slamming us straight out of the fifties comes a band from Melbourne, boasting sassy vocals, twangin’ guitar, thumpin’ double bass and pumpin’ drums. But will this claim be substantiated? Dave Roberts takes a listen to find out.

Dear readers, I feel a short story is in order. Well before I was a metal-head, before the days of discovering Dream Theater in 2003, I was what is affectionately known as a swamp rocker. Heavily influenced by people like John Fogerty and Creedence Clearwater Revival, the grunge of the guitars and the thump and punch of the drums and bass was what I lived for in music. And in fact, it’s still hanging around in my taste buds every now and then. With their big blues chords, I can't help but stomp my feet whenever a swamp rock song comes on the radio - or a simple air guitar to the simple solos.

I’m very glad to see that the sound is making a comeback in the form of a band emerging from Melbourne’s music scene. Yes, The Level Spirits are a combination of all the best from the fifties and sixties including The Yardbirds, Big Star and of course the swamp master himself - John Fogerty. To spice things up though, the band has added a female singer – and in no way has that detracted from the overall sound of the band.

Onto the album, which seems to be split almost into three separate parts: The rockin’ first bit, the more mellow middle part, and then the upbeatly hopeful tail end. The immediate thing I noticed of the album was that it’s LOUD. I even had to turn my speakers down whilst listening to almost being off to write this review with it in the background. But it wasn’t long before the ol’ foot stamp was back – and with it the head nodding and the smile accompanied with a good blues song. The title track causes all of this, and the song following, "Big Wheel", continues the trend. Crunchy guitars and a full sound weren't expected, but are definitely well received.

Sadly though, that was the end of the rockin’ start section and we then journey into the more mellow, softer middle part of the album, which also contains the song you may have heard on YouTube: "Take It Out". It’s still quintessentially sixties and fifties blues rock, but slower and more melancholic in it’s approach, with songs like "Man of my Dreams" keeping the trend going.

The section does pick up occasionally with songs such as "Psycho for Your Love", although the overall feeling still remains somewhat similar in it’s execution. It is in "Bad Habits" where we see the vocalist’s range. Her voice goes from grungy rock chick to alternative pop singer, displaying a real ability few singers can obtain – versatility.

It is tracks nine and ten however, that bring us to the final section of this album – the more commercially acceptable and pop influenced "Be Alone Tonight" and "Taste of the Same". For once however, I’m enjoying the more mainstream, because these two songs take the cake for the entire album. Allow me to describe the sound – think The Living End meets Magic Dirt. And that’s pretty much the entire last two songs – but they sound fantastic, and sum up the album beautifully.

Now, moving onto the technical details of the album – the production quality is fantastic, as I mentioned before it’s loud, hitting you right in the face as you turn it on. Everything a good rock album should be really. Everything is mixed perfectly, and there’s not really much more I can say about it on that note.

If there’s one criticism I would make it would be that they need to give us a few more songs like the last two on the album, just to balance the rest of the album out but other than that – it’s a fantastic album filled with promise, and promise that it delivers.

In fact I cannot wait for their tour – assuming of course that they do have one – because I’ll definitely have to dust off my boots and my denim jacket, head on over and rock out with them – I have a feeling it’d be a blast.

Consensus: Well written, well performed and well produced, this album is one that will knock your socks off again and again. It’s fantastic to see Swamp Rock making a comeback in this age of plastic music.
Review Score: 7/10