Thunder- Rip It Up

Thunder, as the title of their latest outing suggests, Rip It Up and then some. 27 years in and Danny Bowes and his London/Brighton quintet still don’t understand that they should be considered “old school” by now. Given that this is an album of exceptional freshness, wit and diversity they’re clearly not getting the message one bit.

Okay, so the opener No One Gets Out Alive is what you might expect. A slick, smoothly and consummately composed, Luke Morley and Ben Matthews guitar fuelled fiesta, all of which is deliciously powered along by Chris Childs’, ahem, thunderous bass and Gary James’ exquisite mastery behind the kit. Yet this track is genuinely the only one that meets expectations head on.

What follows is a dreamscape of speckled gems, such as the anthemic Heartbreak Hurricane with its haunting vocals underscored by some quite beautiful musicianship, and the quite heartbreakingly pain infused ballad that is Right From The Start, which could quite easily be a parody of the worst of 80s Whitesnake balladeering but thanks to its adroitly crafted stylistics, it steps well clear of this potential minefield and instead is a stand out of this collection of 11 refined, deliciously honed tracks.

There’s Always A Loser, too, is achingly simple on the surface yet, having dug just a little deeper, contains a complexity that sets it aside. Danny Bowes’ ability to spot what works and what doesn’t is outlined throughout Rip It Up as a whole. The fun She Likes Cocaine sits comfortably alongside the bluesy, ballsy title track. In fact, with each fresh number comes along a fresh emotion, a fresh vibe and a fresh feeling which all-in-all can only be a good thing, right?

In short, Thunder’s Rip It Up is an absolutely storming listen with something for just about everybody to wrap themselves up in.

 Thunder

Rip It Up

Audio CD 

Number of Discs: 1

Label: earMUSIC

Other Editions: Deluxe Audio CD  |  Vinyl

10th February, 2017

Track List:

1. No One Gets Out Alive
2. Rip It Up
3. She Likes Cocaine
4. Right from the Start
5. Shakedown
6. Heartbreak Hurricane
7. In Another Life
8. The Chosen One
9. The Enemy Inside
10. Tumbling Down
11. There’s Always a Loser