Push UK

Strange World

Price: 11.00

Review / Notes: Yet another new label venture dipping its toe in the murky waters of hard rock, AOR Boulevard Records brings together Paul Rudland and Kelv Hellrazer, the latter of course known to all rockers above a certain age from the days of Kerrang! when it still mattered. Got to give ‘em credit for putting their money where their mouth is because in this business, the pitfalls can be many and varied with precious little in the way of tangible rewards.  First on deck then is ‘Strange World’, the debut offering from little known rockers Push UK. Contemporaries of 80’s bands such as Shy, Tobruk, Tradia, Virginia Wolf, FM and Terraplane; the story of Push UK began when American born vocalist David Saylor hooked up with a bunch of like minded British musicians in Birmingham. Sadly, theirs is an all too familiar tale of British acts from that era; one which saw them garner a solid live reputation and showcase their wares for a string of major labels, yet still never land themselves a deal. Skip forward to the middle of the last decade and throw in the assistance of the ever busy Tony Mills (Shy, TNT), and Push UK finally get their day in court. Completely re-recorded and packaged together for the first time, those original demo’s from the late 80’s are now presented for your delectations as ‘Strange World’. Now, whilst the production obviously isn’t ‘Mutt Lange’ quality, time and budgetary constraints notwithstanding, those involved have actually done a fairly reasonable job here. All the component parts are clearly audible (most of the time at any rate), but what really makes this much more than a mere curio is the quality of the songwriting. Imagine a mix of the aforementioned FM, Tradia and Tobruk, throw in a touch of Moritz, Heartland and Virginia Wolf (not to mention a plethora of some of the better known American acts from the day), and the songs that make up ‘Strange World’ will actually come as a pleasant surprise. From the thumping party rock sounds of opener ‘Stand Up And Fight’, to the slightly more sophisticated tones of ‘Miracle Of Love’, ‘Strange World’ or ‘Secret Lover’, Push UK were a very accomplished bunch who could have gone on to bigger and better things had they been given the breaks. With AOR FM on sabbatical right now, there’s a definite gap in the market for releases such as this which are aimed primarily at collectors. Don’t know whether AOR Boulevard will fill that gap in the long term, but with Push UK they’ve certainly made a very encouraging start. (D.Cockett)