Back for his second full length album for Mega Dodo and the first with his new combo, the Honey Pot’s Icarus Peel gets to unleash his inner “Guitar God” on his latest waxing, The Window On The Side Of Your Head. Not to be confused with the 80s Thrash Metal band Acid Reign, ICARUS PEEL’S ACID REIGN is a power trio seeped in the time honoured tradition of classic 60s/70s bands such as The Groundhogs, Taste, Cream and of course The Experience (the touchstone for all three piece bands with the guitarist loud, upfront and in your face) with drummer Brian Rushbrooke from The Crystal Jacqueline Band and bassist Andy Budge holding down the bottom end as tight as you like providing the solid platform for Icarus Peel’s Acid Rock stinging six string Strat attack to really take off and soar. With a supple spine of well constructed songs, both new and older material that did not fit into the Honey Pot/Crystal Jacqueline dynamic, ICARUS PEEL’S ACID REIGN get to play it deep and loose with extended jamming pulling songs into different shapes on the hoof evoking the late 60s “golden age” of Psychedelic Blues/Rock, channelling the greats of the era. Comfortably familiar, The Window On The Side Of Your Head is not going to win many points for pushing at the Psych Rock envelope but it’s the sound of a band having a load of fun with the music they love and with the spirit of Hendrix, Rory Gallagher, Peter Green, Tony McPhee and Richie Blackmore among others summoned subscribers to Classic Rock magazine are going to dig this record to death.
This may not be the most original record that you will hear this year, but that is really not the point. Having digested all the classic guitar records from the era such as Split by The Groundhogs, Taste Live At The Isle Of Wight, Fresh Cream, Axis Bold As Love just for starters, ICARUS PEEL'S ACID REIGN weave a sonic tapestry that threads together all the Psychedelic hues into a vivid soundscape. They skilfully recreate a time where the worlds most inventive guitarists where taking the instrument way into uncharted territory but with some excellent real songs, not just frames for excessive lead guitar. Opening with a Hendrix inspired Wah-Wah and feedback squall of ‘Eel Plurr’, The Window On The Side Of Your Head flicks through the pages of a copy of Guitar Player circa 1970 with cuts such as the funky Blues stomp of ‘Midnight Moonlight’ with it’s rolling Jeff Beck-esque vibe, ‘Be Calm, Becalmed’ channelling Jimi at his most ethereal, a Fleetwood Mac gone Raga Rock instrumental ‘Let's Get It Together’ and the fiery Blues of ‘Way Out West’, a distant cousin of Taste’s ‘Blister On The Moon’. For worshippers at the the alter of the Ancient Gods Of Rock Guitar, you may just want to check this out.
Due for release 27/07/2018 via Mega Dodo Records, The Window On The Side Of Your Head is available to pre-order now. There is a limited edition 10 track LP version on 180 gram acid yellow vinyl (the first 100 copies come with a live bootleg DVD) and a very limited CD version (100 copies) with extra tracks and a different running order to the LP, housed in a tin with a Icarus Peel guitar pick. Available soon from your neighbourhood vinyl dealer or the the usual suspects on line.
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