From the quirky slab of Blues Rock that is ‘I Can’t Do that my Wife Would Kill Me’ and the chug of ‘As White as Jesus’ you can immediately tell that Bob Spencer has a rather wry sense of humour. It’s a great start to his first solo release and an album that’s been a long time in coming from the ARIA Award-winning guitarist Bob Spencer who is perhaps best known for his time in bands like Finch, Skyhooks, The Angels and currently Rose Tattoo, over a career spanning 40 odd years. And though he has released seven chart-topping albums with these bands this is his first as a solo artist and the first time we get to hear his voice.
“Recording this album has been a journey filled with joy, anxiety, confusion, depression, elation, despair and happiness. This has also presented me with the terrifying opportunity to sing in public!” – Bob Spencer
‘When the Devil Gets to Heaven’ takes us on a little gentler ride and suits Bob’s vocals,which I’m sure he wouldn’t mind us saying might not have the ‘grunt’ of a seasoned Rock and Roll lead singer, but can certainly carry a tune and hint at a mellower Dave Faulkner or Fred Schneider and work best perhaps on the light and breezy ‘Daylight’.
Those two tracks are split by the wonderfully soulful instrumental ‘Maroubra, 1973, September, 3 PM’ which as you might imagine sports some great guitar work and like all the best instrumentals doesn’t lose you for a second.
Hitting the half way mark the rest of the album isn’t at all bad either it’s only the light sing-along of single ‘Who Are These People’ that doesn’t grip me, though it’s built on an infectious riff and drum beat. I must admit with the wealth of great tracks here I was a little surprised it was chosen for airplay over others.
If you like what you’ve heard so far then ‘Can I Get an Amen’ and ‘What Do You Think About That’ are nice catchy rockers with nice hooks, and the rolling groove of ‘ Why Don’t You Stick to Music’ might just sum up the apprehension all musicians have about releasing new material! It’s tracks like ‘Relentless’ though that I really like – a great Blues lick,laid back vibe and real world lyrics that resonate with ‘those of a certain age’.
The album closes out with two of the best tracks here – the title track ‘Saints & Murders;’ which crawls deliberately out of the speakers, a little darker in mood that the majority of the album, and it’s that edge that gives it bite; whilst the pensive and brooding ‘The Road Goes On Forever’ shows Bob’s musical depths and diversity. Bob should be rightly proud of this.
