There’s always been something reassuringly unpretentious and daft about Admiral Sir Cloudesley Shovell. From the goofy, oh-so-British retro shtick on their album covers to their peerless efforts in the facial hair department, this avowedly unreconstructed trio have made a virtue of sticking rigidly to old-school heavy rock values and refusing to believe that 1979 is over.
Their sonic diet consists of meat, potatoes, ketchup and beer, which probably explains why Keep It Greasy! is so delicious. They make it look like an accident, but there’s something about the way they bring to mind Black Sabbath, Atomic Rooster, Captain Beyond, UFO, Motörhead, Pentagram, The Stooges, Slade and Thin Lizzy, often all within the same song, and yet songs like Hairy Brain Part 2 and Potato Boy are neither smirking pastiches nor po-faced paeans. Instead, they amount to a very welcome dose of balls-out and booze-bothered rock’n’roll that knows its onions and likes its eggs sunny side up. Equally effective on the gritty NWOBHM thud of Hawkline Monster as on the rambling Wrong, ASCS are a calorific joy.
