The Morlocks - Play Chess Album Review

Covers albums are notoriously difficult to get right and come at a time in artists career where either their own ideas have dried up or they genuinely want to pay tribute to those that inspired them. Siouxsie and The Banshees 'Through The Looking Glass' aside, there are not many enjoyable covers albums that spring to this listener's mind and unfortunately The Morlocks Play Chess adds nothing to this.

The album kicks off with I'm A Man and The Morlocks come across as a truly dreadful pub band descrating an old classic. The Killing Floor is just about forgivable. I'm unsure if this is actually any good or maybe just a relief after the opening abomination. They then proceed to rip through and destroy Bo Diddley's Who Do You Love (for far superior renditions see The Jesus & Mary Chain and The Doors). Things reach an all time low with their version of Chuck Berry's You Never Can Tell. John Travolta and Uma Thurman danced to the original in the famous scene in Pulp Fiction - the town drunk would balk on being requested to jig to this. The whole thing wouldn't be so bad if it were carried off with a sense of humour and maybe I'm wrong but humour seems to be totally devoid throughout.

Morlocks are a fictional species who dwell underground in the HG Wells novel the Time Machine. The Morlocks are also an LA Nuggets style garage punk band who upon hearing this I wished they resided underground. I give them 1 for The Killing Floor.

1/10

Scott Causer