This album, for me, is where Tucky Buzzard starts declaring themselves as a force to be reckoned with, even though the identity crisis issue still remains. They kind of sound like the Stones, the Faces, and early Mott the Hoople, or a frenzied combination of the three put together, but that is the worst thing you could say about Warm Slash. Otherwise, this is a tough, hard-hitting affair which is not too flashy, and is a bit of a precursor attitude-wise to the British Heavy Metal bands that came along later in the decade. The first two tracks get right to the point – “Mistreating Woman” and the rather raunchy “(She’s A) Striker” – but after that, the album branches into some interesting avenues, as you could tell TB was looking to break into some more progressive areas on lengthier exercises like “Which Way, When for Why” and the lost-sounding “Sky Balloon”. But the honor of deepest, darkest beast on this puppy by far goes to “Heartbreaker”, which is just dastardly as far as tone goes, as if the band wants to kick your ass, break your heart, and shove you down a hole and bury you at the same time. Not to mention, the picture of them on the cover, with chests exposed, as if ready for a street fight right there and then….Of course, the big mark against this album is the very grumbly tone which drives this thing, and we do not get much variation from it. And don’t think of putting “Ain’t Too Soon” in the happy category – not even close. So, they end up with the mark of sheer competence, in the long run, for this down-and-dirty rum-and-coke kind of album.
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