Oh me oh my. Consider this a line in the sand, a casting down of the gauntlet, or maybe just the best flaming rock'n'roll record of the week, the month and almost certainly the year, unless one of you groovy fuckers has something spectacular planned for the remaining nine and a bit months. We could sit here and disseminate it for hours, but what it basically boils down to is that all the riffs are fantastic, all the guitar solos (and trust us when we say that there is some SERIOUS axe heroism on display hereon) are fantastic, the chorus is ABSOLUTELY fantastic, and the verses are short enough that they don't forestall the arrival of more fantastic choruses or guitar solos for overly long. To be honest, 'Freakin' Out' is as unnerving as its title suggests simply because it is impossible to find fault with any of it - it's as if Graham, smarty-pants that he is, worked out the scientific formula for The Perfect Big Dumb Rock Record, and 'Freakin' Out' is the devastating first application of it. Because there are split-second fret runs and momentary vocal echoes here that are better than most bands' entire careers. And if there is a finer lyric than "nothing to do, nothing to say / la la la la la la la la lay" written this year, then we can count 2004 as having been a vintage year, and all piss off home early. Until that time, all you rockers, rollers and combinations thereof, step up and show your best, because the quiet man in the glasses has just raised the bar for all of y'all.
Pete Cashmore
NEW! For the latest music videos and backstage interviews, check out our brand new sister site, NME Video.
Comments do not always reflect the views of NME, or IPC Media, for guidelines visit our Ts & Cs page