Dave Cope is prolific. I get to hear a lot of songs that don't see a release, but recently these songs have made albums. Every album that he releases takes a different path completely. Folk, Psych, Classic Rock, Indie Rock, 80s New Wave are just some of the avenues that he has walked down.
An incredibly gifted multi instrumentalist, most of the albums are him and Fred Berman on Drums, but the majority of this album is him alone, bar the bookends in which Cope is part of a trio and both angles work perfectly.
As probably given away by the album title and cover, Walmartyr is a concept album, largely a stab at 90s Rock, not the lyrically woe is me part, but certainly instrumentally. It also shows that the genre could be melodic if you managed to get through the fuzz and the noise.
The two trio songs are splendid. The title track is a story telling affair with an absolute killer chorus. Don't Let My Dreams Come True is anthemic, a song that I've heard at different stages and it has that 90s sound, a little Nirvana on the chorus with a storming Guitar solo. They absolutely nailed the song here.
Psychotic Romeo is heavier and works just as well. Devil City Woman goes all Golden Earring with a side order of UK Glam. Hell Or Hollywood is more Pop Rock, more Cope archetype, his base camp if you like. Killing Game edges towards Hard Rock and again masters it.
The sheer volume of Cope songs is amazing. Generally with such artists, quality can be an issue, but there's not a bit of that here. The changes in genre, album by album, also successfully take you along. For instance, I never thought I would be listening to a Folk album in past years. The songs are so lyrically adept too.
You can listen to and buy the album here for the bargain price of 5 dollars.
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