I constantly have a lot of stuff crossing my desk and not much of it ever gets an immediate second spin. Usually I listen to it once and if I like it, I shelf it and normally go months sometimes years before ever seeing it again. Not much gets more than a couple of spins before this happens simply because there is always so much to listen to. But every now and then something comes along that I find myself continuously going back to as if I can’t get enough of it.
A month or so back my fiancee mentioned to me that a band was playing downtown that sounded a lot like Thin Lizzy and that I should look into it. Well mention Thin Lizzy and you have my attention. When I looked up the information on the show, which was a bitch to find, I discovered that it was a band called Corsair. The name rang a bell but I could not quite place it, as I mentioned I see and hear a lot of stuff. Well, looking into them I found that they were on Shadow Kingdom Records which was a pretty good sign since most of the stuff on that label appeals to my personal taste. So I headed out to see these guys and so glad I did; their set was short and sweet, tight, and fun. It was in the back room of record store and it was one of the best live bands I have seen all year. Went to see The Cult the next night and they were not nearly as good as these kids.
Well I picked up Corsair’s self-titled full-length and both EPs that night and since then I have found myself going back to them over and over again. Hands-down this is some of the best stuff I have come into this year. There is no way to overlook the obvious Thin Lizzy/UFO sound in the music and the awesome duel guitar work. However another aspect to these guys is this sort of Wishbone Ash like hint of prog. Honestly I think if Iron Maiden existed in 1973, they might have sounded like Corsair.
I also got onto a Saga trip recently and had to run through their whole catalog. They have stayed pretty consistent over the years never really putting out a bad album. Now I’m on a Chicago trip; that being Chicago before Peter Cetera took over and then went off to fight for Danielson’s honor.
For more information on Heaven and Hell Records, head over to their official website.