TOURNAMENT is a band here to show you that rock music is very much alive and kicking in 2016. This is the band's second album and it is a storming, sweaty and incendiary hard rock album that is an absolute blast from start to finish. Rumbling bass, akin to a low flying plane kicks things off on the title track before a driving riff get the party started. It's clear from the off that this is true blood and thunder rock and roll to the core. The whole band are seemingly hell bent on abusing their instruments all in the name of a good time. It shares a lot of the sneering attitude and spirit of bands like Backyard Babies and The Hellacopters whilst maintaining those band's penchant for creating riff-heavy, melodic rock songs. Second song "Too Far Gone" shows that these guys are not in this to mess around. They have serious rocking to do. There is even a hint of Monster Magnet's Dave Wyndorf in the delivery of suitably named lead singer Montana Masback. "Scattered" reads like a manifesto for everything the band stands for with it's adamant stance of 'working for the weekend' over muted power chords.

The album is committed to rocking hard and the pace never really slackens. The closest they get to a lull is the sprawling "Biff's Future" which blends Monster Magnet's trippy swirl with crunching chords. The band are clearly students of rock n roll who are not afraid to wear their influences on their sleeves. There are touchstones to many of the greats but they manage to distill the best bits rather than simply mimic their sounds. "Eye on You" begins with the same 3 chord rhythm that served the Ramones so well before introducing Stooges-esque garage riffs. There are shades of Alice Cooper's early 70s work on "Accident Boys" and the rhythm section have the foot down driving force of MC5. Therefore, it seems especially apt that "Life Is Over" raises the ghost of dearly departed Lemmy to rock out one more time. The thick, beefy bassline is pure Motorhead. Nevertheless, it sounds more like a homage than an imitation and fits the band's sound perfectly.

This is undoubtedly a good time hard rock album and there is nothing wrong with that. From first to last the band is committed to getting you rocking and they have the tools to do it. They sound like they have soundtracked many good nights and they are hell bent on soundtracking a few more. If you're looking for some hard rocking action to signal the start of the weekend, then this is it.

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