Junkyard Drive: Look at me now – CD Review

21st March 2024 0 By Kevin McCallum

Have you heard of Junkyard Drive? Have you grabbed any of their previous three albums off the shelf? If your answer is no to these questions then read on.

These guys from Denmark, are a top-of-the-tree rock band and are about to release their 4th album ‘Look At Me Know’ on Mighty Music/ Target Group on 12th April 2024. This 10-track album produced by Soren Anderson (Glenn Hughes, Thundermother) pulls you back and forth from all-out rock riffs to quality ballads.

Opening up with ‘Somewhere To Hide’ it’s a ballsy intro to what you’re going to expect from the release. It’s a swaggering bluesy/dark bar room heavy rock tune, with great guitars from new members Oliver Hartmann and Kristoffer Kristensen.

‘Shoot From The Hip’ brings you a cleaner sounding steady rhythm and bang about half we in an awesome guitar solo and some pretty cool ‘…hey baby….’ 70’s inspired moody vocals from Kristian Johansen.

Next up the fast-paced ‘Tearaway’, no space to rest on this one, ‘stack your money…place your bets….don’t stand in her way… its the way she plays’, about I guess about a particular type of female. This is a great tune, with plenty of belting guitar lines in it, solid.

‘Black Wolf’ introduces you slowly and explodes at full speed. Drops tempo in parts, but has a catchy melody that keeps you listening. It has overtones of a grunge/classic rock amalgam.

Bluesy/funk-type sound brings you into ‘Beauty Fool’, love the steady snare and kick drum from Claus in this one. Including vocals and guitar work that wouldn’t be out of place in a late 1960s/early 70’s US festival.

There’s a good vibe and quality to this album and cements the expectations after the release of ‘Electric Love’ in 2022 which consolidated their standing after the release of ‘Black Coffee’ in 2018 and ‘Sin and Tonic” in 2016.

Although the band has been through a few key lineup changes, the standard of the musicianship is well-sustained and excellent.

Definite 70’s vibe from the band and that continues with ’Blood Red Sky’. Its the longest track on the album by some way and it’s my favourite. Power chords and some tidy lead guitar work complement the quality of the vocals/lyrics.

‘Saw You Hanging There’ keeps you enthralled in the grip of a ballad until about halfway then bursts in some power rock, brings you back down again then some big chords to close it. What doesn’t go unnoticed are the excellent backing vocals throughout.

It’s hard to buttonhole the style of ‘The Tide Is High’ it crosses a bit of blues, AOR, and hair metal, love it. Have a listen yourself. Cast your thoughts to buttonhole it.

‘Pipe Down’ brings us towards the end of this quality album. Oozes with the energy that we’ve heard throughout ‘Look At Me Know’.

A full-blown ballad to end with ‘Afterglow’, lets you slip into rest mode, quality.

This is a great album one of the picks of the year so far for me. Favourite song choices are ‘Blood Red Sky’, ‘The Tide Is High’, ‘Beauty Fool’ and ‘Somewhere To Hide’, but believe me there isn’t a bad song on this album from Junkyard Drive. Take a bow, guys.

Score 8/10

Tracklist:
1. Somewhere To Hide
2. Shoot From The Hip
3. Tearaway
4. Black Wolf
5. Beauty Fool
6. Blood Red Sky
7. Saw You Hanging There
8. The Tide Is High
9. Pipe Down
10. Afterglow
Label – Mighty Music/Target
Release – 12th April 2024