Hungers Mother (NI) | ‘Spies Of Torr’

It’s not like hard rock ever went away (”you know”), but there’s been an upward curve in interest again lately. That’s resulted in a few demos of varying quality from around the counrtry these last few months. Some are dull. Some, like this, are pretty invigorating.

Unequivocally the best thing about Hungers Mother is the guitar. Neill McIlfatrick has got to be one of the best guitarists active in the country at the moment. His style is directly comparable to Simon McBride - a classy mix of hard rock and blues that sounds both raw and slick at the same time. ‘Painting The Dead’ really shows what he’s capable of, and if you’re even remotely concerned about your own playing, you gotta hear this guy.

The songs are infectious, and more to the point, memorable. The Horslips influence in ‘Slaves And Kings’ will have you humming the slack, curly riff for days on end.

The problem with Irish hard rock bands at the minute is always the vocals. Even the best of them don’t measure up to the fire of the instruments. There’s no balls, no real spirit, and a feeling of wanting to let go but never really doing so. As a matter of fact, only Tom Clarke from the sadly demised Bad Boat really ever got there.

Jackie Robinson by no means disgraces Hungers Mother - his lines are all more or less on the money - but again, they’re just set back in the mix a wee bit too much, and they never really commit themselves to the material.

Luckily the drums make up for it. Like the guitar, they’re riveting to listen to, with loads of inventive fills and good hard bell work on the ride cymbal. Overall the sound is rooted in the late 70’s / early 80’s crossover, meaning that there’s even a good smidgen of Vivian Campbell period Dio in here as well. The tone of it all is just so natural and airy, so real, that it’s very, very hard to criticise.

It’s pure rock, but not pure rock fury. Satisfying because of the authenticity and quality of the blues rock guitar, perhaps fans of Firebird, Horslips, Taste, Deep Purple, and Dio will find much to love about it. Apparently they’re great live, which I can well believe given how live this cd sounds. The bottom line is they’re a class act - but they need to push just that bit harder and really put themselves into the songs with meaningful, dare I say hurtful lyrics, which are there for a reason other than merely having to be. Then they’ll be explosive.

Earl Grey ::: 19/08/09