Desert Rose is a five piece band who comprise of members from Weymouth and Bournemouth, who describe themselves as ‘hard, sleazy, classic rock’. The band’s EP title, ‘Last Orders’ adds to the feeling of their self described sleazy edge to their music.
Surprisingly, opening track ‘P.R.O.L.O.G.U.E’ builds up into the sound of a shuttle launch, with a full running countdown from ten to zero which eventually breaks into ‘Love to Hate Me’ which doesn’t really mix with the Sci-Fi style shuttle launch, but nonetheless seems impressive. With a greeting of slow chords and a cow bell, there is a genuine classic rock feel to their sound and lethargic vocals eventually show signs of moderate aggression with some sincerity, despite the lyrics stating the opposite.
‘Bottom of the Bottle’ is next and displays the same progressive chords which start to drag things out a bit. The lethargic vocals eventually seem to drain my enthusiasm for this track, but ‘Rags To Riches’ picks things up with some more swagger injected to their sound. The oddly titled ‘Heart Breaking Whore’ changes tempo and seems like more of a whine than a song to start but eventually develops a chorus which sticks in the mind. The final track ‘Talk of the Town’ has an enthusiastic approach with surging bass lines and guitar riffs. The backing vocals seem quite amateur with organisation and their singing seems slightly lazy.
Overall, this record is nothing special and won’t have its listener coming back for more but there are definite hints that there could be something there for this band if they work on their material a little and perhaps look at better quality recordings in the future.
Track Listing
P.R.O.L.O.G.U.E
Love to Hate Me
Bottom of the Bottle
Rags to Riches
Heart Breaking Whore
Talk of the Town
http://www.myspace.com/desertrosedr
Words by George Fullerton.
