Tracer. SPACES IN BETWEEN. Cool Green Recordings

Fine heavy rock recordings have been thin on the ground in 2011, so this album is very welcome. Adelaide, Australian based band Tracer is made up of Michael Brown (guitar and vocals), Leigh Brown (bass, keyboards and vocals), and Andre Wise (drums and percussion).

If Robert Plant and Jimi Hendrix made love to the sounds of Audioslave, they’d probably sound similar to the likes of Tracer. Based in Adelaide, South Australia, the trio embodies a sound steeped in epic guitars, clever hooks and raw, uncompromising vocals. Tracer’s unique blend of 90’s stoner and 70’s classic rock is winning them over new fans, and landed them with an international record deal. Rising from the ashes of blues prodigy band The Brown Brothers in 2004, Michael (vocals, guitar) and Leigh Brown (vocals, bass) teamed up with drummer Andre Wise to form Tracer.

The following years have seen the trio find success with two independent releases; two international tours, including support slots for Little Red, Children Collide, The John Steel Singers and Cassette Kids; and most recently, a record contract with highly respected Dutch label Mascot Records.

Following their successful debut European tour in late 2009, Tracer returned overseas in September 2010 to take a showcase slot at Germany’s PopKomm Music Conference in Berlin. The band then set off on a string of dates throughout Germany, Czech Republic, the Netherlands, Switzerland and the UK, taking time off to sign a long term record deal with Cool Green Recordings, a sub label of Mascot. Upon returning to Adelaide, the band headed straight into the studio, and recorded SPACES IN BETWEEN which is to be released in October 2011.

Using Aussi vernacular, this is a ripper of an album! It opens with ‘Too Much’ and an explosion of guitar riffs underpinned by a killer rhythm and tangible melody. Michael Brown possesses a classic heavy rock voice modelled perhaps on the likes of AC/DC and Iron Maiden leadmen. Superb! And it never lets up… ‘Push’ drops the pace as it ploughs a telling blues path. ‘Walk Alone’ tricks you into believing it’s going to be a quiet tune but then opens out with a vocal that sounds a little like the late lamented Kurt Cobain, and tradional rock sound. ‘Louder Than This’ opens with a deathly paced drum rhythm and is one of several album highlights. Great melodies, excellent lyrics, diverse pace, fabulous performances make this one of the best rock albums of 2011…

4.5/5