Bernaccia - Growl Peace Belief
CD / DL
9/10
Out Now
Based on the evidence of Bernaccia’s recent flurry of
quality EPs, perhaps Growl Peace Belief should have been expected. A nine-track album which is frankly nothing
short of excellent in every way from the stunning artwork provided by The
Greensleeve to the neo-psych alternative screechings of voice, instrument and possibly
even beast.
By their own admission, their sound is hard to label. Maybe best described as a meeting point of
The Doors, Echo And The Bunnymen and Cherokee chanting, Bernaccia are fast
becoming a force to be reckoned with with their mature Geordie swagger and
confidence.
Growl Peace Belief doesn’t sound like an album made by young
men (recently joined by the irrepressible voice of Ellen Chetcuti), it sounds
like veteran musicians who have been at it for years and perfected their
craft. The recent trio of singles Awake,
Power To The Hills and Angel are all included and quite rightly so, as they
form a consecutive trio of tracks early on in the album which carries on the
impressive start made by War Cry and Spiral (the former being one of the most
dramatic and powerful starts to an album you will hear this year).
War Cry, the album opener, is explosive to say the
least. It begins with a breeze of echoes
but soon expands and bursts into as powerful a rock anthem as you could imagine
with Jonathan Noble’s vocals on top form.
A poppier psych-synth sound greets Spiral and with 80s electro overtones
meeting Indie brooding from the same era, a Primal Scream sounding track
ensues.
The aforementioned single trio are quality tunes which have
attracted munch interest from the British music press. Chetcuti’s vocals have added another
dimension to the Bernaccia sound and the interaction with Noble works well. It’s also fair to say that producer Chris
McManus has ‘nailed it’. The sound is
raw yet clinical and precise, and the American Indian feel to the music is
perfectly captured. Even on the
initially slower tracks Murder (another powerful performance) and Senorita
(with a dramatic building percussion), the Bernaccia sounds remains.
Ending with the sound-byted title track and as much energy
as mustered in the rest of the album, Growl Peace Belief is an impressive
long-playing debut and one which in years to come, if there is any justice,
people to refer back to with affection.
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