Scars By Fire - Junkies/Lost In My Ways

Hear The Track Here

Last review out of the bag this month, and this year as it 'appens, is music that by rights should have been made for a lazy rock hound like yours truly. Scars By Fire are a four piece hard rock band from the UK comprising of Pete Hillier, James Budd, Andrew Dewing and Leonardo Ozorio (originally from Brazil apparently) who were nice enough to slip me a couple of tracks from their latest EP Junkies. It's a six track EP costing less than four English pahhhnnds which is about ten bucks to rich Americans (hint, hint) and is the perfect riposte to those who say American rock takes no prisoners. IMHO, it's a pale, pale comparison to the real thing and I venture Scars By Fire as proof.

For my money, there are several clues to attest to this (some would say) outrageous claim. There is an inherent dirtiness, a rubbed-down-by-life quality to UK rock and it's always been there since the dawn of the genre. Rock has always, from its very beginnings, been the music of the working man and woman; hard people who lead hard lives and it shows. They should look like this and they should sound as rough as being rubbed down a brick wall, piss stains and all. If Junkies doesn't get that said to you, then I guess it's time for you to stop reading this twaddle and wander off in search of something new because if Junkies don't get you, nothing will.A ferocious slab of heavy, biting rock that clamps on to your ears in the first four bars and doesn't let up until the track finishes some four minutes later, Junkies is as good as hard rock I've ever heard, and as packed with adrenaline as a punch in the face. Aaaahhhhh yeeeeaaaahhhhhhhh.... Ahem, sorry 'bout that. Social tic while in the presence of the rock...

Lost In My Ways pounds much the same rock base as Junkies and by the time you've got used to both tracks it becomes obvious that not only can Scars By Fire rock like the proverbials, they can write some pretty decent songs to go with it too. Good songs, ass kicking instruments and a terrific production; this is an EP worth getting to know... Put it like this, it certainly made me want to hear the whole thing and, in some ways, I am glad this is the last review of the year and I have to go now and work on the miesterwerk that has become known as the Stevie's but be sure we are going to be hearing more from this band in the coming year - I'll make sure of that.

MUST HAVE UK hard rock.