The Duke Spirit: Bruiser

The English alternative rockers, The Duke Spirit, have rolled out their third album, Bruiser. A solid collection of songs and melodies that has kept me captivated over the last month with regular listening, especially in the car. Their sound is a unique blend of grungy psychedelic rock with harmonic melodies and soulful singing lead by female vocalist Liela Moss.

The Duke Spirit is yet another band that I got turned onto through my favorite radio station KCRW. This introduction came with their debut album in 2005, Cuts Across The Land, which has a raw collage-garage-punk-rock band sound with a definitive soulfulness in their music style. Their sophomore album Neptune continued with the same energy. It is a very refreshing sound that gets pulled into my music rotation regularly.

All three of their albums have an infectious raw energy that can quickly put you in a good mood to rock out.

I was a big fan of the first two albums and excited to see they had finally released a third album. Although the Bruiser CD is not available in the US yet, only as an import from the UK, it’ll be available in the US sometime in 2012, in the mean time is available for digital download. Bruiser is the first great album of 2012 that I’m really enjoying, here are a few of the standout tracks.

The album kicks off with heavy rolling drums and a thick baseline that lead into rhythmic vocals in Cherry Tree. The third track, Villain, could easily be used in a James Bond 007 film, it has a slow piano melody that leads into a hypnotic chorus singing “I’m a villain in love/You’re a villain alone”. Then it’s back to thick rolling drums, base, and guitars with Surrender, while Bodies explodes with raw guitar and pounding drums, both very catchy songs with great vocal harmonies. The tempo slows down just a bit in De Lux, giving you a breather with a semi-psychedelic tune. A slow soulful piano start in Sweet Bitter Sweet that builds up into another catchy rhythmic chorus. For those of you who are Garbage fans, the songs Everybody’s Under Your Spell and Northbound sounds like it could easily be from them, especially Liela’s vocals sounding just like Shirley Manson.

Overall another great album from The Duke Spirit and I look forward to adding Bruiser into my regular rotation.

Video: Surrender

httpv://youtu.be/fuTS1BaKHDM

Now that I think about it, I suppose Garbage is good comparison for the band. Not all their songs sound like them, but a fair amount have that resemblance, but with The Duke Spirit‘s British style. Top it off with well written songs and solid production on all three albums to create that musical magic that gets you hooked. If you enjoy listening to some good alternative rock n’ roll then give The Duke Spirit a listen. They have a great unique sound that is infectious and I’m sure you’ll be delightfully surprised how enjoyable and fun it is to rock out to their albums.

Tracklists

[wptabs effect=”fade” mode=”horizontal” background=”false”]

[wptabtitle] Bruiser[/wptabtitle] [wptabcontent]

1. Cherry Tree
2. Procession
3. Villain
4. Don’t Wait
5. Surrender
6. Bodies
7. De Lux
8. Sweet Bitter Sweet
9. Running Fire
10. Everybody’s Under Your Spell
11. Northbound
12. Homecoming

[/wptabcontent]
[wptabtitle] Neptune[/wptabtitle] [wptabcontent]

1. I Do Believe
2. Send A Little Love Token
3. The Step And The Walk
4. Dog Roses
5. Into The Fold
6. This Ship Was Built To Last
7. Wooden Heart
8. You Really Wake Up The Love In Me
9. My Sunken Treasure
10. Lassoo
11. Neptune’s Call
12. Sovereign

[/wptabcontent]
[wptabtitle] Cuts Across The Land[/wptabtitle] [wptabcontent]

1. Cuts Across The Land
2. Love Is An Unfamiliar Name
3. Darling, You’re Mean
4. Win Your Love
5. Hello To The Floor
6. Bottom Of The Sea
7. Fades The Sun
8. You Were Born Inside My Heart
9. Lion Rip
10. Lovetones
11. Stubborn Stitches
12. Red Weather
13. Take A Look Around
14. So Good To Hear
15. Boot Hill

[/wptabcontent] [/wptabs]

The Duke Spirit Resources

• The Duke Spirit Official Site
• The Duke Spirt albums:
  • Bruiser on iTunes or Amazon
  • Neptune on iTunes or Amazon
  • Cuts Across The Land on iTunes or Amazon
• The Duke Spirit on Facebook
• The Duke Spirit on Twitter
• The Duke Spirit on last.fm
• The Duke Spirit on YouTube
• The Duke Spirit on Flickr
• The Duke Spirit on Wikipedia

Have you discovered The Duke Spirit yet? What are your thoughts on their music? Please feel free to share your thoughts below and thanks for reading.