The sophomore album by NYC's Skelter maintains the band's Britrock foundation: big guitars, big drums, killer hooks.

14 MP3 Songs
ROCK: Classic Rock, ROCK: Hard Rock



Details:
Skelterâs sophomore album, Sip oâ Tea for the Devil, shares the same Britrock flavoring as the bandâs debut, Boomstick. But whereas Boomstick drew almost exclusively from the Oasis/Who/Stone Roses school of guitar-based rock, Sip oâ Tea expands the bandâs palette to encompass the likes of Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath and even The Happy Mondays. All of these disparate sources are merely ingredients, though, in a unique musical stew.

The album kicks off with the bandâs longtime show opener, âHello Hello Hello,â an invocation to lovers of all things Britpop. As the song cascades into feedback-laden madness, it runs headlong into the jarring punk-metal of âIndifference.â The journey continues with âThis is a Ghost Town,â a Tex-Mex spookfest, and âThirty-Two Pints,â a bouncy call to lager thatâs one part Factory Records and one part Les Paul crunch. âDawn Marieâ may just be the quintessential Skelter song, in that it has all of the hooks of a Noel Gallagher classic and all the snarl of a â72 Plymouth Barracuda. âDie Happyâ marks the vocal and songwriting debut of bassist Greg Ross. The song skillfully combines Sabbath-worthy riffing with ethereal melody, all the while shouting out to the characters of the WWE. Led-heavy guitars take a rest during âThe Idiot,â the kind of pop tune for which John Hughes would happily rewrite a fresh-faced teen misfitâs reunion with his suburban princess just for its inclusion. The album shifts back into fifth gear with the AC/DC-tinged rocker âYour Gray Hairâ and the Zeppelinesque stomp âSheâs Gotta Move,â before closing with the bitterly majestic mini-epic, âThe Turning of a Screw.â

Interspersed between Sip oâ Teaâs songs is Trent McSwain, the gin-soaked alter-ego of indie filmmaker Alexander Gradet. Gradetâs faux-nightclub introductions and meanderings bind the album with an almost Sgt. Pepper qualityâ¦if Sgt. Pepper had been recorded by Bob Goulet and the MC5.