Album Review: Uncle Acid - The Night Creeper
By Sam Carroll, Contributor
[Rise Above; 2015]
Rating: 2.5/5
Key Tracks: “Waiting for Blood,” “Downtown”
Uncle Acid can be best described as a collection of love letters sent between The Beatles and Black Sabbath. The Cambridge-based group made its commercial debut in 2011 with Blood Lust. It reeked of late ‘60s counterculture and grindhouse movies. Catchy and heavy, upbeat and disturbed, Uncle Acid created a formula that worked.
The Night Creeper alters this formula. The band strays away from its pop undertones but retains the catchy songwriting from previous releases. “Waiting for Blood” doesn’t carry the same energy Uncle Acid’s other openers brought. Blistering power chords encourage bobbing to the song’s rhythm instead of mindless head banging. Front man K.R. Starrs’ nasally vocals work with the music to create an atmosphere that makes it feel like the listener is being followed by some ill-meaning entity, a predator lurking in the shadows of tight alleyways.
B-grade horror movies play a part in the lyrics and the music’s execution. The tracks “Downtown” and “Yellow Moon” have traces of soundtracks from movies like Dawn of the Dead, Zombie 2 and Mark of the Devil. The instrumental in “Yellow Moon” sounds like filler compared to the cinematic energy “Downtown” could conjure up.
Although The Night Creeper is not Uncle Acid’s strongest release, it is the group's heaviest release. Its fault is the lack of charm that made Blood Lust and Mind Control stand out in the stoner rock genre. The mixing also takes away from the album’s charm; Blood Lust and Mind Control had a graininess that could destroy eardrums if the volume was cranked. The music’s catchiness is still apparent, but the effort isn’t as memorable as songs like “Ritual Knife,” “Devil’s Work” or “Thirteen Candles.”
