Charing Cross: Pain & Gain

Label: Sonic Revolution, Release: 09.10.2015

“Pain & Gain” is the third album from Swiss band Charing Cross. Two years after their last release, “Sinspiration”, they are back and are even under some pressure to deliver a worthy follow-up record. Having listened to the album a few times, I came to the conclusion that they definitely managed to do that with “Pain & Gain”. Perhaps, they are not as experimental as on their last album but the main elements that are typical for Charing Cross are still there: catchy lyrics, Peter Hochueli’s distinctive voice and the awesome guitar solos from Andy Dormann and Pascal Zwyssig. The title track might not captivate me fully but, latest with “Queen of the Night”, they won me over completely – that’s how a band should sound like. I recommend listening to “Welcome to the Show”, which will surely be the band’s opening song at future gigs, and the quieter “Still Alive”, which features excellent vocals from Hochueli and a phenomenal guitar melody. By the way, the catchiest song of the album is the final track, “Crossroads”. “Pain & Gain” is a great follow-up record and I really hope it will be a success story for the Charing Cross guys, allowing them to play live much more often.

www.charing-cross.ch