Slam Cartel - Handful of dreams

"Handful of dreams" is the superb debut album from London band Slam Cartel. The band can count Billy Morrison, Bass player for The Cult (and guitarist with Billy Idol) as one of their fans - and that's a man who really knows about what makes good rock music.

A few comments on some of the tracks...

"Wishing eye" is the opening track and immediately impresses.

"Handful of dreams" has great guitar riffs, and like so many of the tracks on the album has parts that feel familiar even though its the first time you've heard the song.

"Once in a lifetime" is a cover of the Talking Heads classic, and they've really done a superb job on it - for a really good cover version a band needs to do something different to make it stand out from the original, but they still need to keep some resemblance. Slam Cartel have taken this song and made it their own, giving it a real rock feel.

The music is hard to pin down - its great hard rock, but its hard to say what band they sound like. At times there is a Black Stone Cherry feel, but The Cult are another band that comes to mind when listening to the album, and during "Once in a lifetime" there is a slight Korn feel at times. Part of Handful of dreams had chords that reminded me of Status Quo. Overall though the band dont sound like any one band - they have created their own sound but some of their influences show through at times

The album is great value too compared to many new albums - with 13 tracks and a running time of an hour (almost double what some bands think is an acceptable length), you get plenty of great music for your money.

This is a truly superb debut album - packed full of great catchy rock music, this is a must-buy album.

Slam Cartel are:

Giles van Lane - Vocals
Marc Neudeck - Bass
Tommy Hendriksen - Guitar
Steve Campkin - Drums
Adam Lee - Keyboards & Guitar
Terence Warville - Guitar


Track listing:

1. Wishing eye
2. Handful of dreams
3. Once in a lifetime
4. Breathe
5. Shine
6. Hold me
7. Free again
8. Missmatched ties
9. Goldenstream
10. Powerstorm
11. Maybe sometimes
12. Sundown
13. Walk a mile