Album Review: The Soviet Machines – The Soviet Machines

After listening to the first track of this self titled debut album, my first reaction was to hit pause then head on over to the bands Bandcamp page and check out what I’ve been missing, my initial thought was, why have I not been party to this band before?  But after seeing that they were formed back in 2006, only released what looks like one single and an EP up to 2009 and then a small chill out until 2020!, well I feel let off the hook that I missed the boat.

Having listened to the few released songs, it did become clear that there was only one thing missing, that being the legend that is producer Jack Endino (Nirvana, Soundgarden and Afghan Whigs), the sound has definitely been enhanced and taken up a notch or three.

If this is there debut, here’s to the many more we might be waiting to hear.  ‘Get Your Kicks’ is the sacrificial lamb so to speak here, setting off the album with something that lays out just how good this band is and can be all at the same time, dragging you kicking and screaming into a world of power garage rock guitar, drums, and bass, oh and just to spice things up a little more, a Rock n Roll vocal that slaps the passion into every chord or beat that backs it up.

‘You Should Kill Me’ carries on the momentum with ease, in fact it ramps up the excitement that fills every corner of the room when all those infectious riffs  that scream at ya like a banshee kick in.  Recording the album without over dubs is a stroke of genius, its whole sound has not been diluted in any way and it shows, ‘Baby We’re Gone’ holds you like a smoking gun in the palm of its hand and then comes the best of the best ‘Two Shots (To The Back Of The Head)’ lyrically powerful, musically this has no silencer attached, what you get is a song that kicks off with a moody bass line, then collides with stampeding buffalo of a moral story, Queens Of The Stone Age is not being to strong a comparison.

After the onslaught of half the album under your belt, you might be forgiven for thinking, can this keep going without fizzling out to an ember, well, be wrong!  ‘All We Are’ and ‘Better Way’ have every ounce of fire running through their veins without let up, every note and word charged with energy and angst.

Ending an album like this on track seven is tantamount to daylight robbery I’d say though, there is an eighth, but I’m sure it’s just a radio edit.  So prematurely last is ‘Bittersweet Angel’, a song to get lost in, bring you to tears and somehow slice through you like a razor, a most beautifully written, played and sung, heart felt song as you might ever hear.

As the first album of 2021 that I’ve listened to, this one is gonna be so so very hard to beat.  Rocks the fuck out of your speakers!  So be careful to warn the neighbours.

Set to drop early January, check out the bands BANDCAMP for updates.

Follow the band on Facebook HERE