There was a time before grunge when Warrior Soul seemed to have the world at their feet. Their debut in 1990 ‘Last Decade Dead Century’ was sheer power, wonderful music with a message for a disenfranchised generation and years later listening to it again I still feel that album released just a year before Nirvana’s ‘Nevermind’ was a far superior sonic statement. It’s only failing perhaps was that it called for action and rebellion whereas Nirvana’s message was very much to internalize everything, self absorb and lose yourself in self pity and nihilistic emptiness. Far easier to feel sorry for yourself and blame the world than do something to change the world!
The astounding thing about Warrior Soul of course is that unlike Nirvana they weren’t a one-trick pony – the follow up 1991’s ‘Drugs, God and the New Republic’ was just as good, and not as unfocused as some revisionists would have you believe and 1992’s ‘Salutations from the Ghetto Nation’ starts with arguably the best first half to an album in the entire decade. And whilst the ‘Acid Punk’ of ‘1993’s ‘Chill Pill’ which felt a little arty to me at the time, still has it’s flaws, 1995’s ‘The Space Age Playboys’ (a favourite of Lars Ulrich) is right on the nail, aggressive and right up there with the debut.
I sometimes wonder how much more combative and positive and prepared to fight for their rights (rather than expect them without raising a finger) millennials might be if they had followed Warrior Soul call to action rather than Nirvana’s easy way out – suggesting that the world was fucked, blame someone else and do nothing about it…
So here we are 2017 and there’s a new Warrior Soul album out, the first since ‘Stiff Middle Finger’ five years ago now. The good news is that he’s still angry about the system and still making a fine noise.
We start with the stuttering cool growl and call to arms of ‘American Idol’ before ‘I Get Fucked Up’ is unleashed to sneer and splutter a million reasons why one might want to. It feels just like it should – Warrior Soul snarling and thrashing and wailing with the amps up to ten. Title track ‘Back on the Lash’ has a nice edge and ‘Further Decay’ a solid punky intent nicely mixing it up.
The album may be only nine tracks long but it makes up for the relative brevity with quality. ‘Thrill Seeker’ is full of dirt and grit and ‘Going Broke’ has a nice sleazy edge and grimy rock groove that makes it so immediate. It’s that kinda Detroit punk via Iggy and the Stooges and MC5 that you can here deep in these grooves and it’s unapologetically cool as well as sonically raw.
The album closes out with three of my favourites – the insistent, grinding ‘Black Out’; the catchy as hell ‘I Got the Rock’ and the wonderful closing track ‘That’s How We Roll’ which take us out on the high we came in on. This is one band that never lost it – raise a glass to Warrior Soul.
