Simon Maltman Blogs

Swampy Swagger and Blistering Ballads For the uninitiated, Walking Papers are a bluesy hard rock outfit from Seattle. It began as a project between Barrett Martin (Screaming Trees, Mad Season) and Jeff Angell (The Missionary Position). They ended up writing an album's worth of killer songs together with the swagger of some of their previous bands, with also the soulful and melancholy elements of say Mad Season. Overdriven guitar riffs sit comfortably next to vibraphone and double bass. Along for the ride were the likes of Mike McCready (Pearl Jam, Mad Season), Duff McKagan (GnR, Velvet Revolver), and Ben Anderson (Missionary Position). The minor label release of songs was so well received that Duff and Ben joined full time and they were all signed up to rerelease the album with a major label. What followed after was a great critical response, extensive touring and ultimately lots of ideas for a second record. The band then went in and cut this record, but with Duff inv...

Wanna go for a ride? You sure will. New Album sees Dulli in fine form Gentlemen, Black Love, 1965 . Any fan knows that these are indeed the holy trinity. The comeback album- Do to the Beast splits opinion a little more. Personally, I think it's just alright. I'd take most of Dulli's non-Afghan albums over it. But, the new album,  In Spades is a very satisfying listen. From the opening track's largely string arrangement, it is clear that Dulli is not just making a 'Twilights plus John Curley' album. Other examples of really great song writing include  Demon in Profile and Toy Automatic . The final track- Into the Floor is a great one- almost Pink Floydy- with a very addictive melody hook. Dulli can be guilty of using the same patterns and progressions a bit too much, but even though there's some repetition here, it's still a really good collection of songs. He's mixed things up well- some classic Afghan scratchy guitar, a bit of clavinet...