First and foremost this is a Rock and Roll album, full of fire in the belly and attitude it’s got all the ingredients that should make a good listen. ‘Love and a 38’ sound good though at times the production here is a little fat and the guitars a little down in the mix for my ears. They also have the songs, but at times they meander when they should be hitting the gas, of float when they should attack. That I have no doubt will come in time because there are moments here when you know these guys really do have it.
The bluesy swampy opener ‘Oh My God’ is a good start, full of fire and with traces of early Aerosmith yet with a modern feel real power. The punky swing that follows on ‘Just Like Regret’ is both unexpected and welcome – like L.A.’s own Bullets and Octane meets Australia’s Living End.
The reserved proto rock low key build of ‘Went Away’ also works well with some great guitars and cool vocals, though for other listeners this might be where the album takes a step into moodier less-straight forward territory. I like the almost-ballad ‘Abre Los Ojos’ though its Spanish title mystifies me – why not just ‘Open Your Eyes?’ especially if that is what you are singing? (And if you talk about the song in the press release isn’t that an obvious place to explain?)
After that ‘Big Leg Betty’ re-starts the Rock with a nice slab of Fooesque stomp, before the take it or leave it moodiness of ‘Holy War’. Thankfully that slight blip comes quick and fast before the crowning glory of the album – ‘I Won’t Wait’ that is hopefully not only all these guys could be but what they will be. It’s got power, it’s got urgency and they are both harnessed to great effect (like a non-Sleaze version of an Endeverafter song).
“Not Comin’ Home” really sound like something Velvet Revolver would have cranked out and it works well, and does the snarling menace and swing of penultimate track ‘Born to Make Me Die’.
Closer ‘Get It Right’ is one where the balance is right, its Rock and Roll not unlike Powderfinger at their peak or Pearl Jam in their formative years but harder and with a post-grunge attitude and real sense of melody and dark and shade. It’s probably second only to the anthemic ‘I Won’t Wait’ and those two songs alone would certainly make this worth a listen.
‘What Love and a 38’ have done is made a nice dirty modern rock and roll album which at times hints of much bigger things to come.
