Album Review: Gay Paris - 'The Last Good Party'

2 May 2013 | 10:30 am | Staff Writer
Originally Appeared In

Come confess your party sins.

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Dirty rock n' roll.

Make no mistake, this is what Gay Paris are offering you and this is what you will get. 'The Last Good Party' is an appropriate title for their latest record as the music featured on it seems like the soundtrack playing at a party that would be crazy enough to earn the title "good," while also possibly being your last.

Their are two significant elements in Gay Paris - their big rock riffs that are given suitable groove by the rhythm section, and the deep growly vocals, which teeter on the line of deadly serious and a complete joke. All of this is enough to concoct an interesting little cocktail. The devilish guitar line that opens the record on 'Ash Wednesday Boudoir Party' lead into a rumbling drum beat that is eventually driven along by the Son-of-Lemmy vocals.

The band then literally take you to church with their version of a hymn on 'Son Of A Butcher Parliament', an up-beat rock track with plenty of soul. There are plenty of guitar solos intertwined into the fabric of 'Minotaur: Shibboleth Brooks No Brotherhood' before things simmer down and the groove seeps in for album highlight 'The Gospel According To Blood & Bone.'

You could be forgiven for tiring of the band's sound a little, this is bound to happen when such distinct and unique sounds are used with little variation, which is the case here, especially in the guitar tones. The end section of the record features another highlight, 'Black Louie Forgives The Cardinal's Sins', which is a sporadic little number that exemplifies the group’s penchant for off kilter song structures that can sometimes be the audio equivalent of A.D.D.

Things finish off with 'Shame At The Anvil', a song which creeps in with some rolling blues rock and explodes in its chorus lines while keeping the vibe of the party closer, walking away with a smile for everything that has just transpired while bracing for tomorrow's hangover.

If you don't smoke cigarettes and drink whiskey you will by the time this album is finished.

1. Ash Wednesday Boudoir Party

2. Jubilee Down Crow Beach

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3. Son Of A Butcher Parliament

4. Trash Bird At Confessional

5. Minotaur: Shibboleth Brooks No Brotherhood

6. The Gospel According To Blood & Bone

7. Ghost Off In Umbra

8. Black Louie Forgives The Cardinal's Sins

9. The Demarcation Of Joseph Hollybone

10. Shame At The Anvil