Album Review: Stiff Upper Lip

This is the sound of five guys and the brother of two of them laying down a wonderful rock and roll record. The sound, gritty and warm, on this album is extraordinary. It puts you right there in the room with boys or rather it puts the boys right there in the room with you. Every member of the band stands out throughout the record as the mix and production gives each their space to deliver stellar performances. On the title track Angus and Phil kick us off with a great bluesy lick and a counting hi hat as Brian comes in on a deeper register than usual before Mal and Cliff drop into the track Brian takes off ‘like a dog in a howl’ (maybe, who fucking cares?) and we get locked down tight into a groove from which you never want to escape. Angus blesses us with one of his most expressive solos in years, the ones where he tells you really what’s going on in the song through power of his SG and his fingers alone. As is so often the case the real stars of this song are Mal and his brothers in the world’s greatest rhythm section and in fact despite a record full of wailing leads from Angus and Brian giving every little thing to every single track this is true across the entire album. Stiff Upper Lip is conclusive proof that when it comes to laying down rock and roll grooves you can fight, fuck and dance to, AC/DC have no equals.

Not a track goes by where there isn’t a touch here and there of magic that brings a special flavour to the usual ingredients, maybe the presence of brother George in the control room has something to do with this. The placing of the backing vocals on Meltdown, the raw as hell crashing chords that bring that song to an end; THAT guitar tone on House Of Jazz which is worthy of a place on the next satellite we send into space to introduce us to passing aliens, not to mention the moment when the whole thing kicks off and you can feel the elemental presence of true rock and roll, there’s a reason why thunder and lightning play such a prominent role in AC/DC iconography it’s because they literally play up a storm. 

Hold Me Back is a lesson on how to build a song from a series of basic components into an engine that feels like could run for ever on the energy it generates for itself, the placement of the cymbal crashes, the arrival of the guttural backing vocals, every part adds to the building intensity of the track. Even the quicker tracks like Safe In New York City and the bonus track Cyberspace have grooves you still move too, you just move quicker, there’s really no other choice. And if you ever doubt the band still mean it watch the video for the first of those tracks; you’ll sweat just watching it. Can’t Stop Rock And Roll makes you believe that it’s an established fact. Satellite Blues opens up with a classic stop start Young brothers riff before bemoaning the ‘dumbed down news’, that’s right now you can now dance to social commentary. 

The most joyful song on here for me is Come and Get It, a filthy blues stomp that invents the concept of a double decker bed whilst making it perfectly clear that should you want it, you can get it right here. The album closes out with Give It Up the very last thing you want the boys to do, it is everything you could ever want from an AC/DC song, the Rudd opens it up with a shimmering beat that begs Cliff to get funky while Mal and Ang produce an archetypal interlocking riff and Brian invites us, no demands, that we ‘rip it up’ and ‘stick it out’. Yessir, fucking right I will. You have made yourself very very clear.

An Armpit for A Hat: AC/DC Live Review: London 2016

This night may have been the most fun I have ever had to AC/DC's music. In company of regulars from acdcfans.net and some new faces we warmed up nicely in the Tap House and miraculously got to the stadium in time to be there when the doors opened. Even Azel. 

Terro flagged me in with his cap and we all hooked up halfway down the runway on Stevie's side. Rocker and The Wizard popped off to the bar and returned with enough beers for the entire inner circle. Which was kind of them.  Later Azel and I would surprise and delight the crowd around us by filling the empty pint pots with our own filtered home made beverage before knocking them over and dancing in the resulting puddles. So impressed were the boys behind us that they shared their Jack Daniels with us. Kindness is contagious apparently.


Belle may not have been quite so impressed. Although she did still let me have a patch of carpet to sleep on and thus save me from another random park bench. For which I am and will remain eternally grateful! 

The gig is really a massive blur punctuated with moments of clarity. For the first few songs it was the usual mayhem and all rather tasty where we were, with a pit forming seconds into STT. Rather than commit wholesale slaughter I spotted The Wizard and dived forward to join him a couple of squashed bodies from the front barrier. Flag firmly planted here we stayed for the remainder of the gig. The overall feeling I have taken from the gig despite several near death experiences is one of complete fun. Utterly drenched in sweat, wearing Azel's armpit for a hat for about three songs mid gig, my face in pain from smiling so much. Being so close I could see how much of a blast the boys on stage were having. The whole band fed off the reaction from the crowd. Angus played phenomenally, never missing a note, revelling in what he and his guitar were emitting. Granted my hearing may have been affected by the assorted body parts inserted into my ears at various points during the show. Axl prowled the edges of the stage a smile plastered across his face. His between song chat perfectly done, at one point he even asked Stevie if he was having a good time, unfortunately I missed the answer due to a toe in one ear and a boob in the other. 

Angus and Axl are really having a good time together. I think my highlight of the gig was the third verse of Sin City watching Angus doing that foot stamping back arching stomp prior to duck walking across the stage before seeing Axl high kick his way into the chorus. It was funny as fuck and rocked like hell. This was a gig that I will not forget easily it was like something from years ago. Being part of a singing, sweaty, heaving, bouncing mass of mayhem down the front. Arms around each other, leaning on your mate next door to catch a breath before the next ripper roared over you. I’m smiling now and I was smiling then. It was that kind of night.

The above picture can now be found in place of the original definition for joy in the Oxford English Dictionary.

New Book: High Voltage: The Life of Angus Young AC/DC's Last Man Standing

Coming later this month on the 28th the first book to focus on Angus alone.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/High-Voltage-Angus-Young-Standing/dp/1863959580