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HIGH SPIRITS
Safe On The Other Side

High Roller (2023)
Rating: 5/10

Right, let’s cut to the chase, the first track (‘In The Moonlight’) on this album sounds like The Hellacopters tune ‘Soulseller’. Okay, so now I’ve got that out of the way let’s concentrate on the rest.

Safe On The Other Side is the fifth full-length release from the Chicago, Illinois-based combo that’s been floating around since 2009, and as with all their releases – being the brainchild of Chris Black – High Spirits serve up driving hard rock which I actually find rather dull. Yep, I’m about to get lynched by the fans, but as this record unravels I’m rarely moved. This is standard, and yes, soulful too, with hints of New Wave Of British Heavy Metal and plenty of catchy hooks, but am I missing something? For me, this record is a middle of the road experience that does little to excite and after the first few tracks I just got bored.

I rarely look at reviews from other sources, but I decided to have a scroll through a few after I listened to the album just to see what people were saying. Indeed, a majority of reviews were in high praise for Chris Black and so I put the album on several times and yet I remained numb to its alleged delights.

Admittedly, I quite liked the moody plods of ‘Lonely Nights’ and ‘(There Will Be) Magic Tonight’, and ‘Anything You Need’ boasts a fizz, but there is nothing here that soars beyond the average as ‘Please Don’t Leave Me Behind’, ‘Til The End Of Time’ and ‘Loving You’ blandly rattle away bereft of variety. It’s like hearing the support band for Foo Fighters who I’m sure would no doubt appeal to the uncles in the crowd. I’ve seen people describe High Spirits as high energy rock, but all I hear is mediocrity.

Neil Arnold

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