Via two previous albums, High Wycombe’s own Jettblack left us in no doubt of their hard-rocking credentials – both onstage and in the studio.
However, they’ve been on the verge of a breakthrough for the last five years and as the band’s first product for a new home of Cherry Red Records, Disguises must represent the last realistic hope of a push towards the big time.
It sees them toiling with customary bare-chested, hard-riffing retro-rock grit, fuelled as ever by the twin-axe histrionics of Will Stapleton and John Dow, though sadly if it’s a tangible improvement in quality that you’re after, on this occasion Jettblack are found wanting.
Their sound mostly retains its mix of Whitesnake, Dokken and Judas Priest nuances and the album includes some creditable tracks, though a mere handful – Explode and Kick In The Teeth, for example – are anywhere near as memorable as golden oldies Raining Rock, Get Your Hands Dirty or Two Hot Girls. Indeed, Evidence, Black And White and Enemy all sound tepid by past standards./o:p
