Time Off Magazine
THE BLACKWATER FEVER - Sweet Misery
(Plus One Records/Shock)
Brisbane's own The Blackwater Fever are, unfortunately, always going to be a target for the Two-Piece Backlash – pretty much every duo since The White Stripes has had to deal with the stigma of not coming up with the one-guitar-vocals-drums first. Big whoop. Fact of the matter is two-pieces have to work harder than their larger counterparts to be both engaging for a crowd and to flesh out their songs, and Blackwater handle these tasks with bombast and aplomb. Kicking off with a Lanegan-esque intro before launching into thundering theme song 'Blackwater', Sweet Misery's most obvious strong points are both its energy and gritty-yet-perfect production, while vocalist/guitar man Shane Hicks has a throaty roar and a guitar tone that'd make The Black Keys' Dan Auerbach shit. 'Good Night Darling, Sweet Dreams' and 'Better Off Dead' prove the fellas can handle the sultrier end of blues, as well as showing off Andrew Walter's seismic drumming. The title track crops up at the end of "Side A"; a haunting country-flavoured tune laced with violin and wandering boldly into 16 Horsepower territory, before the second half of the album begins with a spaghetti western instrumental. And then it's off again into the storm of floor tom beats that is 'Lovesick'. Across much of the album there's a dark river of vitriolic rock'n'roll; when it lets up for the sensitive stuff, such as 'Red', the grit doesn't fade away, nor does Hicks' voice fail to measure up. Forget preconceived ideas about what two people in a rock band can achieve: Sweet Misery can bury albums by bands with three times as many members. Rock'n'roll at its best.
4½ - 5 TAL WALLACE
THE BLACKWATER FEVER - Sweet Misery
(Plus One Records/Shock)
Brisbane's own The Blackwater Fever are, unfortunately, always going to be a target for the Two-Piece Backlash – pretty much every duo since The White Stripes has had to deal with the stigma of not coming up with the one-guitar-vocals-drums first. Big whoop. Fact of the matter is two-pieces have to work harder than their larger counterparts to be both engaging for a crowd and to flesh out their songs, and Blackwater handle these tasks with bombast and aplomb. Kicking off with a Lanegan-esque intro before launching into thundering theme song 'Blackwater', Sweet Misery's most obvious strong points are both its energy and gritty-yet-perfect production, while vocalist/guitar man Shane Hicks has a throaty roar and a guitar tone that'd make The Black Keys' Dan Auerbach shit. 'Good Night Darling, Sweet Dreams' and 'Better Off Dead' prove the fellas can handle the sultrier end of blues, as well as showing off Andrew Walter's seismic drumming. The title track crops up at the end of "Side A"; a haunting country-flavoured tune laced with violin and wandering boldly into 16 Horsepower territory, before the second half of the album begins with a spaghetti western instrumental. And then it's off again into the storm of floor tom beats that is 'Lovesick'. Across much of the album there's a dark river of vitriolic rock'n'roll; when it lets up for the sensitive stuff, such as 'Red', the grit doesn't fade away, nor does Hicks' voice fail to measure up. Forget preconceived ideas about what two people in a rock band can achieve: Sweet Misery can bury albums by bands with three times as many members. Rock'n'roll at its best.
4½ - 5 TAL WALLACE
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