Initially released on Friday 13th February 2010 (40 years to the day after Black Sabbath’s debut LP), ‘Vol 1’ was the first efforts of unknown songwriter, Kevin Starrs. Pressed in small numbers for a non-existing fan base, the album took several months to shift all 30 CD-R copies. Recorded on a tight budget of stashed dole money and with little knowledge or regard for conventional recording techniques, the chaotic results speak for themselves. Distorted vocals, out of tune harmonies, ragged musicianship and everything pushed to the red. The clatter of mic stands falling over mid performance, the rustling of lyric papers, the missed key changes and flubbed lines. Everything you would want to avoid is here.
With its mix of budget horror lyrics, Everly Brothers obsessed harmonies, downer rock riffs, overly long guitar solos and bizarre high pitched vocals, Vol 1 had very limited appeal outside a small group of underground fanatics. Yet here, some seven years later, Kevin has remixed and remastered it, and it is now available on CD and vinyl. Part of me does wonder “why bother?”, as this is fuzzed and distorted, with pretty ropey production (and this is the remastered version remember), and much of it does feel quite amateurish. It’s as if Blue Cheer and Black Sabbath went on a long strange trip into the Sixties and never made it out. I can guarantee that John Peel would have loved this and tried to book them in for a session, but all I can think this for is for giving my ears a rest before I move onto the next album, as I found this incredibly easy to listen to without it ever becoming easy listening. There is little to distinguish this album, apart from wondering why it was released again, but possibly there will be a (very) limited market wanting to hear the missed notes. If ever a release needed to be on Alternative Tentacles, then this is it.
