THE HEAVY
''THE GLORIOUS DEAD''
AUGUST 20 2012
39:17
1/Can't Play Dead
Paul Corkett / The Heavy / Kelvin Swaby / Daniel Taylor/4:22
2/Curse Me Good
Paul Corkett / The Heavy / Daniel Taylor/4:57
3/What Makes a Good Man?
Paul Corkett / The Heavy / Kelvin Swaby / Daniel Taylor/3:46
4/The Big Bad Wolf
Paul Corkett / The Heavy / Kelvin Swaby / Daniel Taylor/3:22
5/Be Mine
Paul Corkett / The Heavy / Daniel Taylor/4:14
6/Same Ol'
Paul Corkett / The Heavy / Kelvin Swaby / Daniel Taylor/4:01
7/Just My Luck
Paul Corkett / Chris Ellul / The Heavy / Spencer Page / Kelvin Swaby / Daniel Taylor/3:02
8/The Lonesome Road
Paul Corkett / The Heavy / Daniel Taylor/3:59
9/Don't Say Nothing
Paul Corkett / Chris Ellul / The Heavy / Spencer Page / Kelvin Swaby / Daniel Taylor/3:38
10/Blood Dirt Love Stop
Paul Corkett / The Heavy / Kelvin Swaby / Daniel Taylor/3:56
REVIEW
by Matt Collar
The Heavy's third studio album, 2012's The Glorious Dead is a bombastic acid rock, funk, and blues-soaked album that sounds like the illegitimate offspring of the Black Keys and Gnarls Barkley. In that sense, it builds nicely upon The Heavy's previous work and should please fans of the band's quirky take on rootsy soul-influenced music. Showcasing singer Kelvin Swaby's trademark rough, nasally yawp, The Heavy seem to love building songs around riffs of low-end electric guitar twang, booming basslines, and wickedly boneheaded, backwoods drumbeats. They also punctuate these sweaty, red-eyed arrangements with bursts of trombones, trumpets, strings, and backing vocals. The band kicks things off with the horror movie-inspired zombie-gospel number "Can't Play Dead," featuring Swaby doing his best swamp blues-style shout over a fuzzed-out electric guitar riff and plodding blues-rock beat backed by what sounds like a choir of female divas. It's a grand moment of over the top rock that perfectly sets the tone for such similarly exuberant and soulfully campy moments as the marching band funk of "Big Bad Wolf" and the driving, James Bond theme-sounding "Don't Say Nothing." Elsewhere, The Heavy delve into various punk, dance, and blues-influenced sounds including the manic garage rock meets mariachi band anthem "Just My Luck" and "What Makes a Good Man?," which splits the difference between the retro hip-hop soul of Kanye West's "Gold Digger" and "Discothèque"-era U2.
BIOGRAPHY
by Andrew Leahey
A co-ed quintet from the outskirts of Bath, England, the Heavy draw influence from funk, soul, blaxploitation film soundtracks, and the gritty garage rock of the Sonics. Guitarist Dan Taylor and vocalist Kelvin Swaby became friends in the 1990s, bonding over a shared appreciation for vintage R&B and Jim Jarmusch films. Joined by bassist Spencer Page, drummer Chris Ellul, and keyboardist Hannah Collins, the two launched their own act -- the Heavy -- and began combining Taylor's distorted guitars with lo-fi samples, horns riffs, stomping percussion, and soulful Prince-styled vocals. The photogenic band made its studio debut in 2007, releasing several singles on the London-based Ninja Tunes label before issuing the full-length Great Vengeance and Furious Fire that fall. An American release followed in early 2008 on the newly minted +1 Records. the Heavy returned with its sophomore album, The House That Dirt Built in 2009. In 2012, the band delivered the self-produced The Glorious Dead.
''THE GLORIOUS DEAD''
AUGUST 20 2012
39:17
1/Can't Play Dead
Paul Corkett / The Heavy / Kelvin Swaby / Daniel Taylor/4:22
2/Curse Me Good
Paul Corkett / The Heavy / Daniel Taylor/4:57
3/What Makes a Good Man?
Paul Corkett / The Heavy / Kelvin Swaby / Daniel Taylor/3:46
4/The Big Bad Wolf
Paul Corkett / The Heavy / Kelvin Swaby / Daniel Taylor/3:22
5/Be Mine
Paul Corkett / The Heavy / Daniel Taylor/4:14
6/Same Ol'
Paul Corkett / The Heavy / Kelvin Swaby / Daniel Taylor/4:01
7/Just My Luck
Paul Corkett / Chris Ellul / The Heavy / Spencer Page / Kelvin Swaby / Daniel Taylor/3:02
8/The Lonesome Road
Paul Corkett / The Heavy / Daniel Taylor/3:59
9/Don't Say Nothing
Paul Corkett / Chris Ellul / The Heavy / Spencer Page / Kelvin Swaby / Daniel Taylor/3:38
10/Blood Dirt Love Stop
Paul Corkett / The Heavy / Kelvin Swaby / Daniel Taylor/3:56
REVIEW
by Matt Collar
The Heavy's third studio album, 2012's The Glorious Dead is a bombastic acid rock, funk, and blues-soaked album that sounds like the illegitimate offspring of the Black Keys and Gnarls Barkley. In that sense, it builds nicely upon The Heavy's previous work and should please fans of the band's quirky take on rootsy soul-influenced music. Showcasing singer Kelvin Swaby's trademark rough, nasally yawp, The Heavy seem to love building songs around riffs of low-end electric guitar twang, booming basslines, and wickedly boneheaded, backwoods drumbeats. They also punctuate these sweaty, red-eyed arrangements with bursts of trombones, trumpets, strings, and backing vocals. The band kicks things off with the horror movie-inspired zombie-gospel number "Can't Play Dead," featuring Swaby doing his best swamp blues-style shout over a fuzzed-out electric guitar riff and plodding blues-rock beat backed by what sounds like a choir of female divas. It's a grand moment of over the top rock that perfectly sets the tone for such similarly exuberant and soulfully campy moments as the marching band funk of "Big Bad Wolf" and the driving, James Bond theme-sounding "Don't Say Nothing." Elsewhere, The Heavy delve into various punk, dance, and blues-influenced sounds including the manic garage rock meets mariachi band anthem "Just My Luck" and "What Makes a Good Man?," which splits the difference between the retro hip-hop soul of Kanye West's "Gold Digger" and "Discothèque"-era U2.
BIOGRAPHY
by Andrew Leahey
A co-ed quintet from the outskirts of Bath, England, the Heavy draw influence from funk, soul, blaxploitation film soundtracks, and the gritty garage rock of the Sonics. Guitarist Dan Taylor and vocalist Kelvin Swaby became friends in the 1990s, bonding over a shared appreciation for vintage R&B and Jim Jarmusch films. Joined by bassist Spencer Page, drummer Chris Ellul, and keyboardist Hannah Collins, the two launched their own act -- the Heavy -- and began combining Taylor's distorted guitars with lo-fi samples, horns riffs, stomping percussion, and soulful Prince-styled vocals. The photogenic band made its studio debut in 2007, releasing several singles on the London-based Ninja Tunes label before issuing the full-length Great Vengeance and Furious Fire that fall. An American release followed in early 2008 on the newly minted +1 Records. the Heavy returned with its sophomore album, The House That Dirt Built in 2009. In 2012, the band delivered the self-produced The Glorious Dead.