Diesel Park West

Let It Melt

palo Santo Ninth album in 30 years. They’re probably not living like princes do.

Once the supposedly commercial rock arm of the Food label, Leicester’s Diesel Park West made records that sounded like stadium fillers, even when they were struggling to actually fill clubs. They’ve had a remarkably stable line-up (leader John Butler, two members from the 80s, and since 2007 ex-Crazyhead drummer Rob Morris), their staying power is commendable, but they’re not treading water.

Underpinned by Butler’s elegiac rasp, Let It Melt plays to the band’s strengths: heroic anthems, and an optimistic belief in the redemptive power of rock. Like a more jet-propelled Jet, the title track is the most rootsy they’ve been in a while, the turbo-charged Pictures In The

Hall is an ear worm, the busy The Golden Mile hurtles along like Let’s Spend The Night Together, and when they slow it down on Scared Of Time they pack an elegant emotional punch. How did we ever let this band slip through the cracks? ■■■■■■■■■■