The Heavy – They Don’t Disappoint!
The Heavy. While I was lucky enough to see this band live, I had my doubts. But, to my surprise, they didn’t disappoint in fact, their show was flawless! The sound and energy was perfect and the crowd?
Not one person was in their seats. They were dancing in the aisles like crazy fools and the band kept playing until we basically got shut down by the venue. This band really showcased how talented they are live. Needless to say I got my exercise for the week!
Where You’ve Heard This Band
Really, it should be where haven’t you heard this band? Their music gets airplay on television shows, video games, sports shows, Blue Angels air shows and more. Look it up and you’ll see how crazy popular this band really is.
They even have their music played during Super Bowl LIII for Jeep or Kia, I’m not sure which or it could have been both. For me, “Horrible Bosses”. Below is a popular track called “Coleen”. I chose this version because “The Dap Kings Horns” are an extra little something…
The Heavy and Their Early Beginnings
Rising out of Bath, England, “The Heavy” forms over a casual jam session, when guitarist Dan Taylor laid down some acoustic riffs over hip-hop instrumentals and vocalist Kelvin Swaby’s raspy croon. On its debut album, “Great Vengeance and Furious Fire”.
The Heavy brings back vintage R&B with rich retro-soul instrumentals and gritty lo-fi sampling. The rest of the current lineup is Spencer “Big Daddy Spence” Page (bass), and Chris Ellul (drums). Below is the video for “Short Change Hero” popular from the Borderlands 2 video game.
Great Vengeance & Furious Fire
The debut studio album by the band which also features the Fan Favorite “Coleen”. This album is more funk oriented with the likes of Mayfield, P-Funk, Stone with Swaby’s falsetto moments makes this one of my favorites.
The House That Dirt Built
“The House That Dirt Built” sounds more like an early 60s and 70s rock revival sprinkled with some hip -hop beats. This album takes you a fantastic ride down the road of early classic rock with some James Brown moments to boot.
The Glorious Dead
This is their third studio album. And features the track “Short Chang Hero” with the trippy intro. What makes this one stand out is that it takes a totally different direction than the aforementioned. This one is more roots rock, blues with some quirky moments. A lot more twang, drumbeats world music and fuzzy sounds added in between. If you want something that sounds great but also bounces off a lot of genres, then this is the album for you!
Hurt & the Merciless
First off it’s another direction. With the overview of the album dealing with the toxic moments in one’s life. We’ve all been there! As crazy as it sounds, the track “What happened to the love” has the same intensity as Ike & Tina Turner’s version of “Proud Mary”.
Still, outstanding tracks but with darker moments to it. Heavier guitar, punk and blues rock elements, but with a punch of angst and regret. Yet, the album has a lot of dance and groove moments. “Turn Up” is a track that takes you to church and back. Along the lines of finally finding some redemption in life and celebrating it.
“Sons” – Sonic Boom to The Soul
Where do you go when you’ve covered so many musical avenues in your previous albums? You borrow from those same albums and take them to the next level. This album is the love child of James Brown and other soul artist screamers doing the classic call and response tactics.
Then, you go into a psychedelic rock trip with “Fire” and move onto some Afropunk moments with “Put the Hurt on Me”. Lyrics-wise, this album takes on some social and political moments but in a good way referring to creating positive change. It’s worth checking out.
Whether you like them or not, this band always seems to create unique albums that easily appeals to different tastes. Like most of us, this band is into all styles of music and I look forward to what they bring to the table for their next album.
When the chaos in the world calms down, and we’re able to hear live music again, be sure to see this band live if you can! In the meantime, you can check them out on most streaming platforms. The more you listen, the more you find tasty tidbits and musical nuances to their music.
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