A Warrior Soul covers album? Good God, who’s cockamamie idea was that? Let’s face it, WS leading light Kory Clarke ain’t the most, well, accomplished vocalist in the world, so what is there to be gained in butchering songs – possibly favourite ones of punters at that – in some sort of self-aggrandising croakfest?

(Several hours and multiple plays of CAOGS later, wiping egg from face)

Whose idea was it to let Warrior Soul loose on a covers album? GIVE THAT MAN A BLOODY BIG MEDAL!!

Improbably, Clarke and company have snatched victory from the jaws of ignominy and ridicule with this corking collection of covers; clearly much thought went in to what the band were going to do, musically, selecting songs that Kory could not only do justice to but, yes, actually enhance with his sandpaper rasp. Consequently the semi-title track is a triumph, but the real ace in the pack here is a storming take on Motörhead‘s Outlaw – seriously, the blessed Lemmy would totally approve of the Warrior Soul take on this track – wherein the band absolutely explode behind a committed vocal from our plucky hero.

Grand Funk‘s American Band is another hit, as is the band’s improbably rocking overview of American dance music icon KC‘s Get Down Tonight – who needs the Sunshine Band when you’ve got Warrior Soul funking up the joint? A timely tribute to Van Halen crops up too, in the shape of a coruscating D.O.A., which features Clarke’s best vocal in years as he takes the sleaziest parts of David Lee Roth and filters them through his own, very unique technique…

In fact the only real misstep here is the attempt at Jimi Hendrix‘s Crosstown Traffic, which just doesn’t work at all; still one duffer out of eleven is still something of a triumph, and I’ve gotta hand it to Kory and his band of merry men – this is the biggest and most riotous surprise of the year and I love it!

Cocaine and Other Good Stuff releases on November 13th.