BAND OF SKULLS — “BABY DARLING DOLL FACE HONEY”

BAND OF SKULLS — “BABY DARLING DOLL FACE HONEY”
By Rick Zeigler

The debut album by this UK trio is a wonderful roller-coaster ride, which contains boozy, bluesy hard-rock stomps as well as pastoral folk offerings. The band pulls both styles off with equal aplomb, greatly enabled by the dual vocals of Russell Marsden and Emma Richardson. “Light Of The Morning” kicks things off with blues-drenched power chords and a strutting melody. “Death By Diamonds And Pearls” is a powerful hard-rocker with a great fuzzed-out guitar solo. “I Know What I Am” has the two vocalists trading off licks, and then combining their lungpower for a tour-de-force chorus. As the album progresses, the band begins to incorporate more of their folkier leanings. After their power-chord laden crunchers, to encounter a song with just female vocals and an acoustic guitar (“”Honest”) is a wonderful change-up, reminding this listener of Black Sabbath’s (and Black Mountain’s) more acoustic moments. And as the album progresses, the power chord and folk strands begin to be increasingly interwoven (“Patterns,” “Dull Gold Heart,” “Cold Fame”) to great effect. Make no mistake, however, this band loves its hard-charging rockers, and they are never far away, even when accompanied by the dreamiest of melodies (“Impossible”). Further, Marsden’s guitar work shows plenty of flash but no indulgence, as when he rips off psychedelic solos both slow and fast (“Blood”). All in all, a fantastic debut. 

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