Review: The Answer - Revival

 Like many, my knowledge of Northern Irish hard rockers The Answer on ly emerged after discovering they spent a whole year playing as the opening act for AC/DC as part of the mammoth Black Ice World Tour. Unlike many more, I didn't forget about their existence immediatley after hearing this. Has such undeserved non recognition dwelled up any bitterness and despair in these guys? If it has, the mood they play in on third album Revival manages to disguise it really well.

The modern take on classic rock and roll with hints of country and heavy metal thrown in that is heard on Revival really makes The Answer the British answer to Danish hard rock-representatives Volbeat, and Revival really could be described as the chilled Irish cousin of their 2010 release Beyond Hell / Above Heaven. Both album take on similar styles and influences and have the same kind of hooky structures and riffage that makes their albums as cool party rock music as anything heard from AC/DC. Revival has some really good examples of this, like the energetic opener Waste Your Tears and the danceable Vida (I Want You), which more than anything are just great fun to listen and move to. The slower, more blues inspired tracks like Tornado and Destroy Me are also wonderful as well, they are simply bursting with soulfulness with an overwhelming sense of power that rises from this.
 All the songs serve us this herd rock through a selection of chunky slabs of guitar riffs and frantic drum beats. Plus Cormac Neeson's vocals make him sound like he's fronting a rock band from the 1970s, sounding like the cross between Bon Scott and Robert Plant, making him suiting for the overall classic vibe the album provides us with.
 So it's barely a revolutionary sound and one could probably excused for thinking this could be an album from the late 1970s or early 1980s, but that was never going to be the main goal for these guys. The Answer keep things cool and have some hard rock fun played with the intention for all listeners to have fun as well, and I'd say they achieve this. Who knows if this will finally get them the recognition that they should have gotten a while ago? I mean, if playing alongside AC/DC isn't a way that helps you expose yourself to new fans, I don't know what is.

 The Answer's Revival is out now via Spinefarm. The band will tour the UK this month.