Alarm! They’re free! It was a long journey to freedom from the St. Petersburg wells, and now they are here again. The one-of-a-kind Rusty Sharks are proud to present their new record Long Way to Freedom (2025).
The previous album of Rusty Sharks in a kaleidoscope of colors from other dimensions was described by our main Shark of the pen, Mordecai Badblad. Well, the new record appeared a little earlier than four years later, although the waiting time is quite easily rounded up to that damned Chinese figure. I don’t see anything wrong with that. Our whole country has lived for almost a century, living in five-year plans, and here the Leningrad guys manage in four years! And anyway: quality should prevail over quantity, and Rusty Sharks is fine with quality. However, Comrade Mordecai’s hopes were not fulfilled, and the third record is not the final masterpiece. But it doesn’t hurt her at all.
If Sexy Demons were filled with, as it seems to me, pub swagger, then the spirit of the new record is somewhat different. It’s imbued with the romance of travel and search on the road, and it rhymes much more with my favorite petrified blues songs than with the pleasant stuffiness of seedy places. However, there were enough similar “running” moments on the previous album. And there is also a third side to the coin, but we will get to it exactly by the third track. But you should still start from the beginning.
And first on this road, in the best traditions of the Jim Morrison door factory, we are greeted by Maniac. He greets the listener with a Bennygudman percussive intro, which I really like. The siren-like saxophone riff quite reliably makes you feel like a hygienic victim of Norman Bates. But the chorus has the grace of a dive bomber. However, it suits the song. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen such diverse compositions with such modest timing. And this Western solo, after a quiet verse… is amazing.
Psychobilly Town brings me back to an internal discussion about which camp the sharks are closer to. I don’t have any definite answers, so let’s try to guess in the comments.: Is this neo-rockabilly and saika? And this song most of all evokes associations with Mad Max in its most entertaining iteration. It is very characteristic that the saxophone and guitar imitate the roar of combat trucks!
And so we got to the third track and the third side of this obviously not three-dimensional coin. Walking Dead was originally the opening track of Titanic, the band’s first studio album, released in 2017. Yes, this version sounds completely different. At the very least, we should thank His Majesty the Saxophone and his excellent solo, which follows an equally interesting-sounding guitar tapping. It’s not at all about the artistic value of the new and old versions, each one is good in its own way. The fact is that finding the band’s first album anywhere is not the most trivial task. I have no idea what this is about, but it’s kind of very mysterious. What about Valka’s grandfather? And he’s good in both incarnations.
Bored with Your Tattoos psychedelically wriggles in the opening reef, as if the cobra is taking revenge on the fakir. Otherwise, it’s hard to find anything more remarkable in this song. Except that the way of doing a solo on the microphone is very attractive, but we’ve already heard it in previous tracks.
Queen of the Evil is another reinterpretation from the debut album. A bright greyhound, nervous and very dancing. This is in comparison with the previous version, so I give the villainous crown to a fresh performance, because I like to drive songs to stupor.
Voodoo Girl steals like a real Peter Gunn, sometimes breaking into a bouncy stone riff. There are no such obvious tempo games here. But this version, unlike 2017, added a fervent pathos that only brass instruments can give. Once again, it’s difficult to choose which solo – guitar or saxophone – was better. Well, this ending, unbridled, with a sixties flavor.
Since I decided to look at this work through the prism of road adventures, it’s worth remembering that roads sometimes lead us in circles around old places, but from the next track we finally leave the interchange towards new tracks. On the tank!
Tango Tank is very cool. That’s exactly how I want to characterize it. She also has the most melodic chorus, which still clings like a fish hook to the listener’s brain. In general, the guys don’t have many hooks, despite all the richness and variety. Why would fish not love fish hooks?
Well, that fish bursts in with an evil metal! Rusty Shark is so heavy and straight that the hair begins to grow faster, and the head automatically performs movements familiar to all fans of guitar overdrive. They’ll still stand on end on syncopation at the end of the chorus, but still it’s such a fighting driving song. If you collect several rusty sharks in a row, is it possible to make a shark armored train out of them?
The album ends with the cowboy lullaby Long Way to Freedom. This is one of those songs that makes it good to nap in the back seat or on a reserved seat.
In the end, I can say that this is a wonderful album that continues the style of the previous one. It is also concise and full of interesting musical jokes. However, at the beginning I said that this album is not a masterpiece. There’s a lot of roughness here for a reference. Compositional, when one very interesting structure is repeated in a bunch of songs. Powerful moments like the silent duel between guitar and sax should not be worn out, predictability kills them. There are also a couple of questions to take note of. Yes, the Sharks’ masterful use of the saxophone is more interesting than anyone else’s, but why does it sometimes overlap with vocals? The sound is so rich that sometimes it gets tedious. It’s like it’s a tiny stage that barely everyone can fit into, but you have to try to see someone separate.
But Sharks have a much more valuable property – a recognizable style. They are very difficult to confuse with someone else, and it costs much more than any of their imperfections. I talk a lot about how all our billy music needs to evolve and be diverse, and the Sharks are doing just that. A unique and unrepeatable team. And just a good album from her, which is highly recommended for everyone to listen to.
