What's Ooh La La In Swedish? The Album The Faces Didn't Make In 1977. (Bound To Ravage - Diamond Dogs)

Member Name: Farting Weasel

Product:	Bound To Ravage - Diamond Dogs
Date:	17/02/06 (293 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Oh the memories of times gone.

Disadvantages: Not a new sound. But hey, who cares.

Diamond Dogs – Bound To Ravage.

Released 2005 on Fading Ways Music UK.
FWM 041
£8.99 from play.com

Ooooooooh, what do we have here then?

A whopping great blast from the past, that’s what we’ve got here. Don’t get me wrong here, Diamond Dogs aren’t a group of old has-beens. Oh no. But, how many of us have wished that ol’ Rod The Mod would ditch the schmaltz and get the old Faces back together? C’mon, be honest. Yep, thought so. Me too.

Well he hasn’t, he won’t, and now he doesn’t need to.

In my youth, there were certain bands that could get you in a party mood and then kept you there all night. The best were the Faces. Oh yes. Before Rod went solo and Ron went Stones, the Faces were one of Britain’s’ all out party bands. With tunes like of Pool Hall Richard, Stay With Me and Had Me A Real Good Time, they were certainly a top notch live act and one you never missed when they came to town. And since they disbanded, have been much missed, certainly by me, and there has been a bloody great gap in rock music ever since.

And after a thirty-odd year gap, some one has actually done something about it.

There are no bands that I can think of that are doing stuff like this at the moment. Good old fashioned Hammond-driven, Gibson-slung bar room boogie. God, you cannot beat it. Even the vocals have that Stewart boozy feel to them. Some have come close over the years, The Dogs D’Amour and Steamboat Band immediately spring to mind, The stones still rumble on, of coarse, but it’s always been the quality of the tunes that has let them down and so they’ve failed miserably. I think Dan Baird is the only one I can think of who has managed it to nail the sound properly, but even he’s always injected a bit of good ol’ southern into the mix, and he’s been a bit quiet for a few years now (why?).

But here, Diamond Dogs have actually pulled it off. Bound To Ravage is absolutely fabulous. I love it. This is the sort of twelve bar room rock ‘n’ roll I was put on this hells playground of a planet to listen to. The sound is as rough as a badgers arse, and the songs themselves are all bona fide live party time classics. You can just hear them on stage, pissed-up homage’s to having a real good time (and I intend to be there when they do).

This album has been a long, long time comin’. Oh yes. And it backs my argument about tribute bands perfectly. You don't have to religiously copy other peoples music to pay homage to passd heros.

But it isn’t just a carbon copy of Faces songs. Oh no, though the influence is strong, well, practically overpowering actually; there is a subtle punky feel to Bound To Ravage. It’s not blatantly obvious, but it does mean the album sounds fresh. And the horns, oh yeah. If there is one thing guaranteed to get a good rock album swinging, it’s a great horn section. And we have it here, in heaps. And the bar room honky tonk piano? To die for.

Bound To Ravage is about as close to Farting Weasel musical heaven as you can get without actually being dead.

Stand out tracks? Sad To say I’m Sorry, Bite Off and Crooked Crutch are 12 bar classics. The rest are not far behind. It’s rare that I find an album that I take to this much this quick. If, like me, you are an old Faces fan, you’ll love this, and Bound To Ravage will have you digging out your old Faces and Rod Stewart albums trying to find the tracks you‘ve been reminded of. I don’t usually admire bands that try to take off other outfits sound, but when they do it this well, and no one else is, then I’m not going to complain.

I do have a small gripe though. 41 minutes and 53 seconds? Why? It’s not enough. Not by a long way.

Worse still, Bound To Ravage appears to be Diamond Dogs’ second album. I didn’t know they had a first. Oops, dropped a bollock there didn’t I? I’ll be remedying that little oversight sharpish.

Ok, I’ll come clean: this is effectively the Faces reborn. But as I’ve said earlier, no one, and I mean absolutely no one, is doing stuff like this at the moment. Or have been for years. It seems that bands cannot have a real good time no more, unless they have to try to be as sleazy as possible, a la Sunset Strip. Diamond Dogs show that a good time can be had without big hair, cowboy boots and dicks the size of a genetically modified fleas pubic hair.

Love it. I can hardly contain myself for a tour. I’ll be there. This is stuff to chat birds and bounce boys to.

Recommended.

Summary: The Faces? No bu get it. Now!