The Morlocks – The Morlocks Play Chess

“The Morlocks Play Chess isn’t some teeny bopper karaoke bullshit”, affirms the press release accompanying this garage-punk cover album of Chess records artists, and ten seconds into first track I’m a Man you have to admit this is true; they are certainly not teenagers. Regrettably, this doesn’t mean they are safe from seeming, at times, like the drunk wedding uncle singing Iggy Pop with a tie around his forehead.

There’s nothing innovative about giving rock and roll the garage treatment, so obviously indebted is the latter to the former that it needn’t be stated; success all comes down to the execution. You Never Can Tell is a fair take on turning a shuffle to a strut, Leighton Koizumi twisting his lip rather than his legs as he snarls out the chorus, while Promised Land marries The Ramones to The Beach Boys with sweaty enthusiasm. Good, but being done much better by bands like The Detroit Cobras. [Oisín Kealy]