UNKLE - War Stories

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The energy is infectious

Mo' Wax founder James Lavelle's UNKLE project has always brought together a plethora of vocalists - among them Thom Yorke, Mike D, Badly Drawn Boy, Richard Ashcroft and Ian Brown - for albums which have always had something to fascinate.

For 'War Stories' Lavelle has gone all desert rock, teaming up with Queens of the Stone Age's Josh Homme and The Cult's Ian Astbury and cranking out the riffs.

The results, predictably, have more to offer to anyone who's a fan of the duo's bands than those who can recite the Mo' Wax catalogue numbers backwards. If anything, 'War Stories' could have metal fans tracking down Lavelle's other works rather than any traffic going in the other direction.

While there is a feeling soundwise that this record is a few years too late, the energy on tracks like Homme's 'Restless' and 'Morning Rage' is infectious, and Lavelle does such a good job at capturing rock dynamics that bands should seek out his services. By the end you'll have a wishlist of who Lavelle should work with in the future.

Harry Guerin

To buy 'War Stories' from the RTÉ eshop click here.

Tracklisting: - - Chemistry - Hold My Hand - Restless (feat Josh Homme) - Keys to the Kingdom (feat Gavin Clark) - Price You Pay - Burn My Shadow (feat Ian Astbury) - Mayday (feat Duke Spirit) - Persons & Machinery (feat Autolux) - Twilight (feat 3D) - Morning Rage - Lawless - Broken (feat Gavin Clark) - When Things Explode (feat Ian Astbury)