Circus Diablo claim to be a Supergroup. And with the Cult’s Billy Duffy on guitar and Matt Sorum on drums why not? Although the inclusion of Ricky Warwick might be stretching things a bit! Vocals are taken care of by Billy Morrison (The Cult/Camp Freddy) and the bass by a bloke called Brett Scallions. 

Whether these get togethers ever work is open to question. The saving grace here is Billy Duffy who makes a fine old retro-tastic sound and is the sole reason for bothering with this disc. Musically this is an enjoyable romp of the British straight ahead rock album kind. Any comparisons with Velvet Revolver being thin. Add some Goth and Glam influences and you have a corking little album spoiled only by Morrison’s vocals. He let’s the side down big time with a kind of weedy Liam Gallagher whine that is also devoid of any character. (Listen to ‘Shine’ to see what I mean.) 

He’s not the worst singer you’ll ever hear, granted, but the material is good and far more deserving than Morrison’s very average tonsil warbling. But hey, they’re all mates, so what the hell do I know? On ‘Commercial Break’ he does a kind of Soliloquy, only with Duffy noodling in the background. It makes Dale Winton on Supermarket Sweep sound like Winston Churchill just about to go into his famous ‘we will fight them on the beaches’ speech. Horrible. Pretentious. And the most cringe worthy piece of recording I’ve heard in years. (Now, Winston Churchill, presenting Supermarket Sweep – that would have worked well.) 

To be fair to Morrison he does come up with some nice hooklines such as on ‘Mad Parade’ but the power ballad at the end ‘Dignified’ is bollocks and another poor man’s ‘Liam’ moment I’d rather forget.  My advice is if you like yer classic British guitar sounds and Duffy style riffing ignore Morrison on the mic and simply enjoy what is the perfect antidote to all the endless Thrash/Hardcore and EMO stuff that is about at the moment. This is an enjoyable album but it could have been so much better with some hot vocals.  

PS The track ‘Commercial Break’ is so utterly awful it should come with a warning guide on the album sleeve. Yuk!

Let us know your views on Circus Diablo

Track Listing

Loaded
So Fine
Restless
Shine
Mad Parade
Red Sun Rising
Commercial Break
Hello, Goodbye
Ants Invasion
Rollercoaster
Dignified

Line Up

Billy Morrison - Vocals
Billy Duffy - Guitars
Ricky Warwick - Guitars
Brett Scallions - Bass
Matt Sorum - Drums