It takes guts and a certain level of self-belief to put one of your most striking songs as the kick-off to your debut, because it could so easily go downhill thereafter.
However, that’s exactly what Dublin’s Kopek have done, placing the acerbic Love Is Dead at the top of the heap. It’s a riveting and hypnotic opener and one that features a sacrilegious lyrical litany (‘Heavy metal is dead… Rock’n’roll is dead’) with a number of sacred cows lined up in singer/guitarist Dan Jordan’s crosshairs.
Fortunately, it’s not the only top tune on offer, with Jordan’s emotional delivery approximating a sort of husky, rasping Perry Farrell as Cocaine Chest Pains, Fever, the title track and Bring It On Home surge and rush past, bristling with feral guitars, driving rhythms and massive choruses.
Kopek know what makes a song stick in the memory and WLC is a raw, loose and accomplished effort.
