Could there be tricky times ahead for The Checks? Too much retro bluesy rock for stereotypical indie types, and no goatees, horned fist salutes or bass players with knee length trousers to keep the Kerrang! crowd happy. If falling between two stools is a danger, I doubt if New Zealand’s The Checks will give a monkey’s. They know what they like and they want to share it. Don’t come looking for innovation just yet in their fledgling career – just a bloody good time live. That’s the initial hurdle here, capturing their inflammatory performance on record. First run through I admit to having been left feeling slightly short-changed (magical two singles excepted) – as though producer Ian Broudie had just failed to cage the beast, and with the songwriting not quite strong enough to avoid a stodgy middle. But there is a rawness that comes with the decision to decline polished studio trickery and remain faithful to their strutting modish sensibility, and a few spins later I had got my rock’n’roll head back on and was embracing the youthful grunt of it all.

“Mercedes Children” sees them auditioning for a support slot at the Led Zep reunion: solid guitars; crusty vocals; an opening statement of intent, but as nothing compared to the knockout one-two punch of “Take Me There” and “What You Heard”. Both good old fashioned rollicking singles in the classic ‘tingle down the spine on intro’ sense and alone worth the price of admission. The video for “What You Heard” has singer Ed Knowles giving the best demonstration of snake hips since Michael Hutchence popped his clogs, and it’s a hell of a blistering vocal. All those wearing ironic AC/DC t-shirts take note; you can now catch something like the original. Play too loud and you’ll get the paint stripped off your walls.

Anything following would seem like an anti-climax, but the next tracks are a disappointment – “Tired Of Sleeping” falters to lumbering without it’s live sting and “Where Has She Gone” seems knitted together from a couple of songs that do not quite gel – though the Beatles harmonies are a nice touch and highlight another influence. A welcome change of scene comes with the parallel female vocal underpinning the lighter “Terribly Easy”, but then it’s back to the dark side. “See Me Peter” even has a groove that could have been laid down by The Doors and “Memory Walking” has the guitar tone of a Peter Green era Fleetwood Mac. It has to be said that Knowles is much more effective roaring than when in lower gear as on the latter.

Guitarist Sven Pettersen has done his homework. He’s got a grounding in many of the greats and can hold his head up with them. He never gets over-indulgent and The Checks thankfully never succumb to the suffocating blanket that is ‘heavy rock’. The blues always needs space. The songwriting needs some work, but it’s a promising debut from a band I’ll be keeping an eye on. Some things you just can’t analyse or argue with: here’s one for those about to rock …
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Links
The Checks [official site] [myspace]