Former Biters frontman Tuk Smith is back with his new project Tuk Smith & The Restless Hearts, the band formed after a decade with his previous band and was heading skyward with the announcement of their addition to the US leg of the Def Leppard & Motley Crue tour just before the further announcement of a global pandemic! #saywhat
The guys had already released their debut single ‘What Kinda Love’ the same day as the tour announcement so shizzle turned pretty real pretty quick and what looked like a promising year turned to shit pretty quick! Undeterred Tuk and the lads kept their heads down and did what any solid musician does, write the frustration out of their system here we are two plus years later with the arrival of Ballad Of A Misspent Youth. 8 songs that hit you smack in the face with all the attitude one album can deliver in one go.
Right from the albums opener and album title track you know you’re not in Kansas anymore, but have been whisked skyward in a tornado of bitchin’ tunes that come one after the other, an album of real quality, killer addictive tunage that just keeps flowing, old school glorious rock that ebb’s and flows like a man on a mission. There is a beautiful familiarity to the songwriting, like a warm blanket on a cold winter’s night it just feels right. It has an almost My Chemical Romance bite to it at times, eccentric and flamboyant without ever going over the top, especially in tracks like ‘Everyone Loves You When You’re Dead’. It hits a home run right away and keeps on going song after song, in my head I remember being as equally impressed by the likes of Aaron Buchanan & The Cult Classic’s debut, and Tuk’s own sound has that homage to the glam day’s of the 70’s all wrapped up in a contemporary package, and I like it!
The musicianship is killer, from start to finish all the tracks are beautifully produced to make the songs just shine, and shine they do! If you do not get lost in the magic contained within these four walls of this perfectly balanced album I don’t know what’s wrong with you! What’s wrong with you!!!
Okay calm down princess, trust me this is a fantastic debut and one of the classic rock albums of 2022. It screams of days gone by, big hair and flares, packed with stadium-worthy anthems Ballad Of A Misspent Youth is not to be missed.
Ballad Of A Misspent Youth is out now courtesy of MRG/Virgin Music
| 1 | Ballad Of A Misspent Youth | |
| 2 | Girls On The East Side Of Town | |
| 3 | Ain’t For The Faint | |
| 4 | Everybody Loves You When Youre Dead | |
| 5 | Shadow On The Street | |
| 6 | Say Goodbye | |
| 7 | Lovesick City | |
| 8 | Forgive But Wont Forget |
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