Well, this is quite an entrance from Beau Bowen – but that wasn’t a surprise to me. He first came to my particular notice when I caught him as Paul Gilbert’s support act in September last year. He absolutely floored me – walked out in a red sequinned jumpsuit, with a battered Burgundy Mist Strat, and proceeded to burn through a set of planet-sized riffs, stunning melodies and guitar solos that left my jaw dropped long after he’d left the stage. He could have passed for a time-travelling 70s glam rock icon – but with the addition of guitar chops that could go toe-to-toe with some of the best modern rock players.
Since then, I’ve been keenly anticipating his debut album, and The Great Anticlimax has proven to be anything but an accurate name. To borrow a well-worn cliche, there are in fact more eureka moments on this single album than in many bands’ entire discographies. The title track opens proceedings, in a manner that befits Bowen’s captivating stage presence. A grandiose, near six-minute monster which sets the tone for everything that is to follow – imagine something like Elton John using his powers for evil. The huge wall of sound which forms the middle section of this track is the defining moment on the entire album for me. Said middle section follows the first of this album’s quotient of truly astonishing guitar solos – wait for the mad Yngwie-esque run at the end…
The rest of the album’s run time is a blur of magnificent noise – we hear piano-tinged classical influence, stomping Led Zeppelin influence, modern, fuzz-drenched heavy rock in spades too, and all overlaid with glittering glam-rock attitude. Fans of Queen and Queens of the Stone Age alike will all be able to find much to enjoy here.
Bowen’s voice is arresting – he has shades of Bowie, shades of the aforementioned Elton John, perhaps a touch of peak-era Ozzy Osbourne. His vocal delivery complements the tone of the music absolutely perfectly, and really adds to the album’s supercharged 70s rock credentials. As for his guitar work – well, suffice to say this is a player you need to be paying attention to. He quotes Jeff Beck as a major influence, and that comes as no surprise when you listen to his delivery – there is the same expressiveness, the same elegant melodicism. There is also the same level of gleeful assault on the venerable Strat vibrato arm, although Bowen’s use of it often seems far more aggressive – in his hands, it is a device used to make squalling, psychedelic, apocalyptic noise as much as it is a tool for nuanced expression. Whether achieved with the bar or with his fingers, his vibrato is particularly stunning, not to mention distinctive in sound. And let’s not beat about the bush – he can shred like an absolute demon as well. The focus is very often on Bowen’s playing, there are lots of solos and all of them are face-melters. He is one of my favourite guitarists to appear in recent times.
The album is not very long – only about half an hour, with seven full-length tracks and two minute-long intervals around the middle of the run time, which are a cool inclusion and genuinely add to the swirling psychedelia that runs as a common thread through these songs. The jumps between quiet, low-key atmospherics and wailing wall of sound, then back again, sometimes happen so suddenly as to be disconcerting, though the overall effect is still one of a very carefully put-together collection of complex, multi-layered songs. The chord progressions and lyrics alike are always skilfully written, and the orchestration of the various parts is superb. A particularly good example of this is the second-to-last track, ‘Universe in Reverse’, the opening strains of which are achingly beautiful in both their composition and their arrangement. But then we drop into a swaggering, heavy riff and bridge section which skilfully outlines the tense, ominous chord progression. And to cap it all, we are treated to a full two minutes of screaming guitar solo – this one is particularly brilliant and may well be the best one on the album.
It is tough to find fault with this album, it really is. It transports the listener to an alternate universe in which it is still 1973 – save for the fact that a mid-80s Yngwie Malmsteen would be proud of some of the classically-tinged shred wizardry on display in the solos. For me, as a man who enjoys beautifully-written, retro-flavoured rock music, and also as someone who is powerless to resist a big ol’ slab of brilliantly executed lead guitar, this album really hits the spot. Watch out for Beau Bowen – my guess is that we’re going to be seeing his face a lot more.
