It’s hard to sit here in the same year as an album is released and contemplate if it will be one of the greats, but seven years in the making and many gigs and many miles under the belts Piston have produced what you certainly can say is one of the albums of 2019 and one that threatens some serious attention.
With an ethos hard-baked in late eighties rock these ten tracks are a real treat – kicking off with the fast-paced rocker ‘Dynamite’ before layering in some AC/DC blues with first single ‘Rainmaker that really makes you think they have hit the nail on the head. Then, as if that wasn’t enough, following that masterful opening up with some ‘blue summer sky’ West Coast Halen-esque party rock on ‘Go Now’ – it could well be the best opening all year.
There’s respite with ‘Carry Us Home’ that slows things down to a cowboy swagger before the guitar really kicks in and things take off. And that is followed by the spiky, aggressive almost Punky “One More Day’ that takes you to the half way point with a sound like Temple-era Cult meets early Gunners.
‘Beyond Repair’ kicks off ‘side two’ with some drum-driven Bluesy Hard Rock before ‘Leave If You Dare’ injects some Southern Rock swagger and ‘Blow It Away’ captures that late eighties meaty, Bluesy vibe that Gunners and early LA Guns had along with bands like The Sea Hags.
We close with just as much fire and passion as we started this ride with the anthemic ‘Let Us Rise’ before the real wildcard of a closer – ‘Into The Night’ which is light, reminiscent of U2, and seems strangely out of place. It’s a good song all the same it just sticks out like an elegant island in this rather fine stream of down and dirty Rock and Roll.
Album of the year? Who knows it’s not voting time yet, but one things for sure it is a ‘must have.’ The album also contains two remixes of ‘One More Day’ and ‘Rainmaker’ that have a bassier sound that I actually prefer to the originals here. Get out and get with it as they used to say…