Album Review: Soho Dukes – Don’t Spare The Horses

Duchess Records – September 4^th, 2026

Reviewer – Paul Dubbelman

Those scoundrels, Soho Dukes latest release, ‘Don’t Spare The Horses‘, is a live recording from Bedford Esquires on the final night of their tour opening for The Quireboys and captures the Dukes at their riotously, rascally, best.

We all should know better than to mess with a bunch of ‘Suited and Booted‘ ‘Bovver Boys‘ who get excited by ‘Sunday Magazines‘ and ‘Home Sweet Camden Town‘, where their friends ‘Elaine‘ and ‘Johnny Domino‘, who is very much an ‘Analogue Man‘, ‘Think Of England‘ while sitting ‘A Stone’s Throw‘ from ‘Angel Walk‘ and not contemplating getting an ‘Eyeball Tattoo‘.

‘Don’t Spare the Horses‘ showcases the sheer energy and madcap mayhem that can be expected at a Soho Dukes gig. The 13 songs, pulled from their three studio albums, are performed at a breathless pace with Johnny B declaring mid-set “I Need a Lie Down” but not letting the intensity drop for a moment. Spike joins the band for a rousing rendition of ‘A Stone’s Throw‘ before they close the set with ‘Sunday Magazines‘.

‘Don’t Spare the Horses‘ is one of those albums that takes you back, if you were fortunate enough to be there, to that night in Bedford – the heat, the noise, the raucous joy of the Dukes in full flight. If you weren’t there, it certainly gives a sense of the excitement and intensity of a Soho Dukes gig.

Track List:

1. Home Sweet Camden Town
2. Angel Walk
3. Elaine
4. Should Know Better
5. Think of England
6. Suited & Booted
7. Eyeball Tattoo
8. Bovver Boys
9. Excited
10. Johnny Domino
11. Analogue Man
12. A Stones Throw
13. Sunday Magazines

Line Up:

Bomber – Bass

Age Blackwell – Drums

Col Foster – Rhythm Guitar

Johnny Barracuda – Vocals

Swerve – Keys

Si Leach – Lead Guitar

Web Links:

Official Website

Facebook

Instagram

YouTube