Album Review: The Glorious Dead - The Heavy
Remember that Kia commercial with the Sock Monkey doing tricks on a jetski, a robot doing The Robot, and “How You Like Me Now?” blaring in the background? Well that was The Heavy, and they’re kinda good. They have a great sound, like The Black Keys meets Black Sabbath. Basically, The Black Keys but (no pun intended) heavier.
This comes through very well on their new album The Glorious Dead. Like the Black Keys, their base sound is electro-blues. But The Heavy take it a little further, incorporating more hard rock style guitar, bass, and drums. However, The Heavy don’t let a genre confine them. The whole album is sprinkled with songs that change the feel from the previous song. This starts from the very beginning of the album. The lead track, “Can’t Play Dead”, is a gritty, electro-rock song. This is followed up by the acoustic guitar-backed, catchy-chorused “Curse Me Good”. “Be Mine” is a well written song that is relatively simple musically. It is immediately followed by “Same Ol’”, a big sounding rock/orchestra collaboration. While these jumps from style to style are odd, they don’t seem out of place. The Heavy’s core sound keeps the whole album together.
All in all, this was an album I really enjoyed. I wasn’t very familiar with any of The Heavy’s work beyond “How You Like Me Now?”. When I saw they had a new album out, I took a listen and am very glad I did.
GRADE: B
By Kurtis Klay
