The Spirit is Willing

The Duke Spirit pick up where they left off, following up 2005's debut 'Cuts Across the Land' with 'Neptune', and all the familiar boxes remain ticked. The fuzz of Luke Ford's guitar is still there, perhaps bulked up a little by the assistance of consummate stoner rock producer Chris Goss, and Liela Moss's distinctive swaying vocal is as captivating as it was last time around.

The songs are a little bigger on Neptune than they were before. Audiences on a recent UK tour were treated to and impressed by renditions of the almost monstrous 'Into the Fold' and the stoner stomp of 'This Ship was Built to Last'. Moss comes into her own in the live arena, and these new tracks play perfectly on her oozing charisma and impressive vocal range - she embraces the heavy metal wail and a more sultry whisper with an equal measure of ease. Neptune would be a deeply inferior album in her absence.

The Duke Spirit never quite seem to push all the buttons at once though. The heavy rock is never heavy enough. The haunting slow numbers are never haunting enough. The songs are all well crafted, neatly written, and hint at the possibility that there's a great album buried inside this band. But sadly, Neptune is not that album, and The Duke Spirit have not yet hit the heights they seem capable of hitting. Reasonable, but a little disappointing.