Makers - Rock Star God

  by Geraint Jones

published: 17 / 12 / 2001

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Review

How did I miss this lot? I’ve assumed for some time that my longstanding enthusiasm for all things rock related and particularly the sounds emanating from the U.S. these last 20 or so years meant that I more or less had most bases covered. Sadly this admittedly arrogant view has been grossly misplaced as until now the glorious rock’n’roll noise that is The Makers has completely eluded me. Embarrassingly (for me) ‘Rock Star God’ is the band’s 6th album, albeit their first for the increasingly revitalised Sub Pop label. Whilst I’ve yet to backtrack and investigate their previous work the fact that they were released not on some obscure backwoods imprint, but on either Estrus or Sympathy For The Record Industry just exacerbates my lack of awareness. Suffice to say the problem has now been rectified – The Makers and myself are now on very familiar terms. ‘Rock Star God’ really does live up to its splendidly bravado title. Equal parts swagger, strut and sleaze the album is a massively entertaining aural romp. Lead singer Michael Shelley is a 21st Century hybrid of Mick Jagger and David Johansen, and is as compelling on the albums string-laden ballads (‘God’s Playing Favorites’, ‘Texture of A Girl’) as he is on its full-on rockers (‘A Better Way Down’, ‘Open Your Eyes’). It’s not a one-man show though and via the exuberant production by Jimmy Sangster the rest of the band Jamie Frost (lead guitar), Don Virgo (bass) and Jay Cassady (drums) sound fantastic. On ‘Star Power’, for instance, the band conjure up both the images and sounds of the Rocky Horror Picture Show whilst elsewhere the influences range from the Kinks and The Who to 70s Glam rock. The fuzzed up funk instrumental ‘Metro (Soul Driver)’ is waiting for the film to be made so that it can be its unforgettable theme. Rock opera histrionics are again revisited in delirious fashion on the superbly overblown ‘Sex Is Good Food’ which might remind those old enough to remember or dumb enough to care of The Tubes. The highlight for me though is ‘Too Many Fuckers (On The Streets)’ where the band go all punk rock on us following a hilarious spoken word intro by a certain Mr. Jello Biafra (short and nasty but definitely worth the price of admission). An album of two halves (literally rather than metaphorically), Part One is entitled “Knives, Needles, Bullets, Blood” and Part Two “How Hard Is Your Heart?” the whole is a compelling work and perhaps the first great rock album of the new century.

Track Listing:-

1 Intro (Ladies And Gentlemen)
2 Star Power
3 Looking For A Supergirl
4 A Better Way Down
5 God's Playing Favourites
6 I'm A Concrete Wall
7 Texture Of A Girl
8 Metro (Soul Driver)
9 Give Me Back Yesterday
10 This Is Death Row
11 Sex Is Good Food
12 Open Your Eyes
13 When We Was Gods
14 Someone Else's Song
15 Too Many F**kers (on the streets)
16 Outro (until we meet again)

Label Links:-

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