There is a revival in the Retro Blues Rock sounds of the 70’s and it’s taking hold from US Bands like The Rivals Sons to UK’s The Temperance Movement and Inglorious and all shades in between. The good news is that it’s a genre that’s very music alive and kicking and whilst the sounds may be warm and familiar in essence there’s plenty of new sounds in the mix too.
Dirty Thrills, a band fronted by the son of Moody Blues vocalist Nicky James is a band you’d swear had grown up on a diet of the big four – Led Zeppelin, Bad Company, Whitesnake, Deep Purple,but also a band with one eye on the new pretenders too like Queens of the Stone Age, The Black Keys, Inglorious and Rival Sons.
‘Heavy Living’ is an impressive opening gambit – 11 songs (well 10 and an eastern flavoured ‘Interlude’) that sound as authentic as they are exciting and with an avowed intent to “bring back old school rock ‘n’ roll, while all the while applying their oh-so-appealing filthy edge to it”. They do that with the powerful Plant-like vocals of Louis James, killer guitar riffs from Jack Fawdry and solid, sexy low-end grooves from the rhythm section of Aaron Plows and Steve Corrigan.
Then of course there are the songs – all worthy of your attention – a heady mix of crowd-pleasers and more expansive and experimental moments that will leave you feeling more than sated.
Getting down to business opener ‘I’ll Be With You’ is reason enough to put your hand in your pocket and stump up the cash to buy this album. It’s an amazing song that is both haunting and huge, immediate yet expansive and you get all that in just over four minutes – where does a song like that come from? The good news is that there are plenty more.
You’ll love pretty much everything here from the re-recorded ‘No Resolve’ (which appeared on their debut release and is the lead single for this release) to the delicate and soulful ‘Lonely Soul’, taking in great tracks like the harmonica and guitar driven ‘Go Slow’ or the heavy groove of ‘Drunk Words’.
But it’s tracks like ‘Rabbit Hole’ that show what I really love about the band – low and slow and a hugely rewarding listen, there so much groove and soul in there – there’s a huge amount of spirit – it’s a song that sound like it evolved from an extended jam. The album ends with a winner too – ‘Get Loose’ is a high energy crowd-pleaser and just what rock and roll is all about.
TRACKLISTING: I’ll Be With You | Go Slow | Law Man | Hanging Around | Lonely Soul | No Resolve | Interlude | The Brave | Rabbit Hole | Drunk Words |Get Loose
BAND MEMBERS: Louis James – Lead Vocals, Harmonica | Jack Fawdry – Guitar, Backing Vocals | Steve Corrigan – Drums |Aaron Plows – Bass
- Official Website: http://www.dirty-thrills.com/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DirtyThrills
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/DirtyThrills
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dirtythrills/
