RANDOM ACTS OF INTIMACY - REVIEWS

Kerrang! - July 2006 - 4Ks
Try not to picture Billie Joe Armstrong wearing a dress, doing cartwheels around a small, confused dog. Managed it? It's hard, once someone's suggested an image, to keep it out of your mind, even if it just slips in there for a split second. So the fact that we know that Sucioperro frontman The Dragon (or the more passport-friendly JP Reid according to the sleevenotes) is behind the side-project Marmaduke Duke alongside members of fellow Ayrshire lads Biffy Clyro makes the similarities between the bands all the more stark, from the familiar stuttery guitar flourishes that herald 'Wolf Carnival', to the soaring, singalong choruses much of 'Random Acts Of Intimacy' is built upon. Happily, there's more than enough going on here to quash uneasy thoughts of pale imitations. And anyway, if you're going to form a scene of your own, it may as well be with a band thus far housed in a category of one.

So that's the obvious stated - now onto why Sucioperro really matter. They leave the gates swinging, opener 'The Crushing Of The Little People' a mission statement, a call for the brow beaten to rise up and fulfil themselves over frantically buzzing guitars. Elsewhere, as on 'Apathy=Inaction', they display an intelligence and thoughtfulness often so overlooked, destroying the sappy boundaries of the acoustic ballad lazier bands would stay well within. But best of all are the choruses - the towering, warm, and in the most complimentary sense, pop choruses of the sort that fill your heart and feel like old friends within a few listens - married to buzzsaw guitars in a manner reminiscent of some of the great American alt-rock bands of the 90s like Jawbox or Sugar.

Here, without too much in the way of hype or fanfare, we have a new British rock band to truly trust in. And for that, they deserve your undivided attention.
Emma Johnston

Drowned In Sound - June 2006 - 8/10
Sucioperro have emerged slowly but surely from the hideously bloated Ayrshire rock underbelly with a surprisingly timid restraint.

Their emo-inflected jagged rock is clearly reminiscent of their old friends Biffy Clyro but somehow there is even more pop melody and when the time comes for a bit of post-hardcore bombast, the quartet goes at it without the catharsis and unbridled vitriol that some have witnessed in the live arena. Instead there is a scizophrenic sense of controlled heaviness and calculated melody that seems to come all too naturally.

‘i don’t hate it, i accept it’ is the perfect example of Sucioperro controlling their sound. They have a riff that, in the right/wrong hands, could become unbelievably, nay disastrously heavy but it is scuzzed up to fuck, burning the sharp edges away with a flurry of nothing in particular. It’s safer than it could have been. It fits in with the rest of the album perfectly.

When you have songs like that painfully gentle ‘apathy=inaction’ there is no need for any monstrous heavy metal. These two and a half minutes of beautifully mild acoustica tell a story that will tug at the heartstrings you never knew you had.

Opening track, ‘the crushing of the little people’ begins with tribal drums and then sets off on a manic stroll through serrated, staccato chords and with the next song their musical versatility is gradually introduced. ‘wolf carnival’ is still as inventive and quirky as anything else they will create but blends a million harmonies with the unorthodox chords.

The album almost closes with the lilting, eccentric melodies of ‘the drop’ but decides to really hit the home run; the final nail in the coffin; whatever other crap phrase you want to use with the last song. ‘the final confessions of mabel stark’ is possibly one of the greatest indie-pop anthems you will hear this year.

Asides from the hundreds of great chords that you’ll never hear again in music quite this imaginative, it is the story telling that is the clincher with this record. While it’s probably the least notable facet to this record, the way that every song has a meaning and a little story dissolved within this rich, musical liquid means that Sucioperro have made something that is a little bit more special than you’d have expected.
Raziq Rauf

Manchester Music - May 2006 - 4.5/5
Ok – the first question has to be what does the bands name mean ? – (phonetically it’s - Sooch-ee-oh-perro) – Which in Spanish means “Dirty –Bitch” - For one they are wholeheartedly male, but this is an album embarrassed by it’s riches, contained within the filthy, heavy math/emo influenced rock. In fact, if it’s genres we’re talking about, this is very similar stuff to the output of fellow Ayr outfit Biffy Clyro (check out in particular “Wolf Carnival”). The Bio for the tri ois sketchy – someone in Biffy was involved it seems ...once. Perhaps, the best reference available is that the singer (The Dragon) is also behind Marmaduke Duke (which actually does feature members of Biffy) .

Onto the album and there’s just short of a dozen intense tracks, bar one slower, ballad based outing (“Apathy = Inaction”). Strike out the first bars of “Grace Out Of Me” and it’s definitely embellished with melody, trick timings and open / shut chords, undulating riffs and a real sense of hard, infectious rock. Current single “Dialog On The 2” is an awesome compendium of thick chords, bobbing under The Dragon’s commanding vocal layer. But personal favourite is “Tem v Com” which has the best tune so far, literally welded to a heavy rock work out.

“Random Acts Of Tenderness” doesn’t have one lesser track on it and for fans of jagged, often bone crushing rock, lit by ambitious anthemic melodies, this is a must – you won’t be disappointed.
Manuel Ecostos

This Is Fake DIY - June 2006 - 4/5
The last two years have been a transitional period for Ayr-based four-piece Sucioperro - with old drummer Brendan O'Reilly departing the Sucio fold towards the end of 2004 (not long after the release of their well-received 'The Hidden Perils Of Dancing' EP), things were looking shaky and the future of the band seemed doubtful. However, with chins up, they pulled themselves together, recruited a new sticksman and nabbed a second guitarist for good measure. If we're to go on the evidence provided by their debut album, it would seem they've re-harnessed the chemistry which made their previous EP so special.

From the carnal opening beats of 'The Crushing Of The Little People' to the wonderful guitar harmonies on closer 'The Final Confessions Of Mabel Stark', it's an album full of twists and turns - sounding fresh, yet nurturing a pop sensibility without losing any integrity or depth. Each track seems to glide seamlessly into one another and the album works like a book with eleven chapters rather than, say, a collection of short stories. Moreover, you can easily see at least eight of these tracks being perfect singles. Of the out-and-out 'pop' songs, the groove-tastic 'Dialog On The 2' is the obvious single choice, flanked by a re-worked 'The Drop' - the only song to survive from a previous recording, benefiting hugely from sharper production and the addition of the second guitar. As well as the aforementioned '...Mabel Stark', resplendent with infectious guitar runs and soaring choruses, 'I Don't Hate It, I Accept It' has a hook that won't leave your head for weeks.

While much of the album is upbeat and rocking like there's no tomorrow, Sucioperro have done well to display their depth of songwriting talent; a palette of light and shade belies the more tender moments of the album. 'Apathy=Inaction' tugs at your heartstrings and showcases frontman Dragon's more emotive vocals and lyrics, while 'List Of What Needs Said' starts off sounding like early Jetplane Landing, leading us astray with dissonant chords and barked vocals, before breaking off on many a tangent and eventually concluding as the most epic offering on the album.

While Sucioperro can draw on a wide range of influences (certainly, the press sheet cites them as "bouncing somewhere between Rage Against The Machine and Crowded House" - alarmingly, not at all inaccurate), they fuse these together with ease and also manage to stamp their own brand of quirkiness on their bastard version of pop rock. 'Random Acts Of Intimacy' is clearly a fantastic album which holds your interest and keeps you coming back for more - with any justice, those singles will be on Radio 1 in no time at all and word of their brilliance will spread like wildfire.
Del Noble
 

Subba Cultcha - June 2006
“Emo” is a very dirty word in the music business these days; connotations of choppy black fringes and gurning Americans surround it. Sucioperro (Spanish for “Dirty Bitch” are Emo; but in the best sense - emotionally charged rock.

Slighter and less Metallic sounding than their fellow Scots Biffy, The ‘Soosh’ as they’ve come to be known meld together a melodic, acoustic side with a brash, noisy alter ego - and it’s when this side of them comes out that the band really grab the attention. ‘Grace + Out Of Me’ is like a gauche pre-pubescent teenager for the most part - all lilting delay laden guitars - until it suddenly grows a big pair of hairy bollocks and unleashes a dirty, dirty, dirty riff, and The title track could be a bit wishy washy stadium rock without the gritty lyrics of “She fucking haunts me, she fucking haunts me!” - and of course one of those growling Nirvana-esque breakdowns.

On top of this there’s the disco style beat and Math Rock guitars of ‘Dialogue On The 2’ (surely a trace of frontman, The Dragon’s (don’t ask) side project Marmaduke Duke seeping through), and stop/start riffing on ‘List Of What Needs Said’; like a naïve Fugazi.
Part of the awesome Captains Of Industry stable; Sucioperro are a mighty addition to their growing army of alternative rock, anti-industry soldiers.
Liam McGrady

Rock Midgets - June 2006 - 4/5
Chemistry. One of those classes at school where the teachers always smelled funny but something essential to the making of a great band. Scottish quartet Sucioperro have chemistry. By the bucket load. After listening to 'Random Acts Of Intimacy' it wouldn't be a surprise to learn that they had regular group hugs or something like that. From first note to last here Sucioperro sound terribly together.

But don't get too comfortable. Impatience and audacity and talent butt serious heads throughout Random Acts.... It's not down to immaturity, but the knowledge that a little twist and a few turns make for a thrilling ride. All of which means while 'Wolf Carnival' and 'Dialog On The 2' twitch and fidget like Biffy Clyro or Minus The Bear, 'I Don't Hate...' and 'Tem V Com' are rock and roll belters. Then 'Grace And Out Of Me' does both, meandering down a gentle mathy road before exploding like prime Rage Against The Machine. It's the sort of songwriting skill that regularly leaves you wondering what the hell just happened, how the hell the band got away with and why the hell you so badly want to hear it again.

It might be too heavy for Franz fans, too fey for the hardcore fraternity, even too polite to turn top industry heads but that's their loss. Experimentation, drama, power, dexterity and that chemistry stuff abounds. On this evidence Sucioperro need just a touch more fire and maybe one more album to go over the edge into Muse-like realms of quality. That or medical help.
Simon T Diplock