Amazon
The full sound that comes from this trio is remarkable! Tim Briffa’s guitar is superb throughout the entire album. My favourite is th wa-wa and funkiness on ‘For Your Eyes’. While most people love ‘Girl at the Bus Stop’, the band’s tale of finding love via public transportation, it by no means exemplifies the versatility of this group. ‘She Flies So High’ is the perfect album closer, almost easing one back into the real world after giving oneself over to the band. The band also pays homage to vinyl on the CD version with the sound of a runout groove with the crackle of vinyl before the bonus track….and a very good hidden bonus track at that!. My Drug Hell also promises an added treat for the people who purchase the vinyl version. The only thing better than listening to My Drug Hell play on this CD is seeing them live! (Which I’ve done!) But if they can’t be in your favourite hometown venue, they should at least be in your living room. ‘This is My Drug Hell’ is a MUST-HAVE for anyone who appreciates great music.
(Kristen Leep/kristen@kristenleep.com)
W Magazine (Australia)
This is the first time I’ve heard of My Drug Hell, a three piece band out of the UK.
The whole album was recorded on a 4 track and 8 track without, as the band quotes “no digital shite”. They also thank UK record labels for nothing (ra ra) and take the piss out of record companies and A&R people on the last song ‘It’s Good But….’.
The band definitely keeps the mid 60’s alive using authentic sounds and equipment but some may ask do we need to step back in time once again? Just remember the circle of music trends is always turning and if you like what your hearing why judge it? I’ve listened to this album 10 times and I love it.
(Gene)
Select (UK)
A foray into the indie charts with ‘Girl at the Bus Stop’ and some plays on Radio One’s Evening Session hinted that something was just round the corner for London three-piece My Drug Hell-especially with a name half-inched from one of the nineties coolest t-shirts. This steaming debut shows they’re spoiled for choice on the follow-up front. They barge into the Britpop picture somewhere between Supergrass and Gene, but singer/guitarist Tim Briffa’s crew are neither as foppish nor laddish. They don’t sound like The Smiths, either.
Sixties-style tunes, with hints of McCartney and Arthur Lee, rub up next to some rickety, funky rock. And Briffa knows that at times it’s cool to be gauche. Offhand lyrics and lean, pristine pop constructions weave suddenly with incongruous wah-wah guitar-with eyebrow-raising lines like: “Kept thinking of the time our lips first met/Now there’s a hole in my television set/Well I guess/Well, I was upset”, and a real howler: “It’s not hard to foretell/They’ll have your name in lights/And my name mis-spelled”. All human life is here, from the bus stop to the drug hell that is ‘Teen Psycho Nightmare’. This could be recommended as one to look out for, but trying to resist it might be the issue.
(Mike Barnes)
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