Review: Trucker Diablo – Social Hand Grenade

Bad Reputation ( October 25^th 2024 )

Reviewer:  Stephen Brophy

Sometimes I try to avoid reviewing material from Irish bands, there’s always the possibility that people would think I have more of a bias towards them, but then again, you also need to ensure you don’t just allow albums to not get the airing they deserve, and that’s the case with Northern Irish rockers Trucker Diablo’s new album ‘Social Hand Grenade‘, as once again the band has put together a terrific collection of songs.

With ten very different compositions on offer there’s powerhouse riffs on the likes of opener ‘Kill The Lights’ or the massive ‘Dig’, which still manages to maintain a huge melodic hook through the solo and that riff burrows it’s way into your head in a matter of seconds. The whole album winds in and out of different styles from balls out Rock ‘n’ Roll to some slightly nu metal soundings on the aforementioned ‘Kill The Lights’ through the 80’s hard rock opening to ‘We Are Forever’, be it Arena Rock to Hard Rock or Metal, the songs all have independent sounds but they still manage to fit together so well, that’s a testament to the quality of the songs and the high level of the production.

Finding different tracks bouncing around my head over time as I have listened to the album more I wouldn’t say that this is an album for anyone, I would say it’s one for everyone, it’s got so much going for it, the musicians are all top quality, be it Tom Harte and Simon Haddock slinging riffs and solos all over the place, Tom’s vocals have just gotten better and better over their 6 album releases, Jim McGurk and Terry Crawford’s rhythm partnership is seamless and the backing vocals through the album are powerful and add to the songs, which is great. A band continuing to grow, and very deserving of high praise for their hard work.

This band has an innate ability to create such beauty when they put together slower songs or ballads, and once again with ‘What I See’ they have managed to reach deep down inside not just themselves in writing the song, but also into the listener, to stir up emotions and memories, it’s just wonderful. Once again they have a brilliant song to close out the album, for me still a massively underrated band that continue to produce excellence while managing to maintain who they have always been as people.

The Big Truck does indeed keep on rolling and long may it continue, Trucker Diablo have crafted their own style, still tonnes of fun, with classy songs that are so well written and always come to life even more when played live. A band that deserve to be heard by the masses and ‘Social Hand Grenade‘ will reach out to grab even more fans as it’s a gem.

Track listing:

1 Kill The Lights

2 Stop The Bleed

3 California

4 Vultures

5 The Power Of One

6 Dig

7 We Are Forever

8 Here’s To Heartbreak

9 Show Me The Way

10 What I See

Line-up:

Tom Harte: Vox/Lead guitar
Simon Haddock: Rhythm guitar
Jim McGurk: Bass guitar
Terry Crawford: Drums

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