In a sea of similarities sometimes standing out doesn’t always get you to where you want to go, but self-belief and damn right stubbornness over time can pay off . I like to think that’s part of the Gypsy Pistoleros story: a band I first met in a field in Oklahoma almost a decade and a half with a guitar in one hand an a bottle of Patron in the other they certainly knew how to party! And at a place called The Backyard Bar the very next year they shared the stage wit a couple of local acts and a band called Bai Bang. Great days that never seemed to end! Fast forward 14 years and here we are with album number two from the re-forged band. It’s an album that builds on 2021’s ‘The Mescalito Vampires’ and comes on the back of three great singles: ‘Ballad Of Tommy Shelby’, ‘What’s It Like To Be A Girl?’ and ‘Come On Eileen’.
How you see the Pistoleros really depends on how long you’ve known them – they were the first band I knew to release a 13 track debut in ‘Para Siempre’ followed by an 11 track compilation ‘Wild, Beautiful, Damned’ (containing 11 of those 13 songs) in the same year! Followed by a re-rerelease of the first album with a new cover a year later in 2008 on their own label. I bought them all before realizing they were essentially the same thing!
After the band split things started to happen again in 2020 when Golden Robot put out another compilation ‘The Greatest Flamenco Glam Sleaze band ever!’ before a new album followed the very next year ‘The Mescalito Vampires’ with a completely new line-up of Gypsy Lee Pistolero (vocals/guitars), Mark Westwood of Shadowland (guitars), Gaz Le Bass (double bass), Jan Vincent Vellazco (drums) and Kris Jones (trumpet).
Two years on and the band seems to have completely changed again for this record – now consisting of Gypsy Lee Pistolero (Vox, bad rumba guitar), Shane Pistolero Sparkz (Guitars), Kez Pistolero White (Bass) and Craig Pistolero Sharpe (Drums). The sound though and the vibe is very much that of ‘The Mescalito Vampires’ and as with that release this one s also a huge amount of fun and sounds great. Recorded, mixed and produced by Dave Draper (The Wildhearts, Nickelback, Terrorvision) at The Old Cider Press Studios, Pershore, production is also huge!
Opening with the title track ‘Duende A Go Go Loco!’ (Keeping that ‘Wild, Beautiful’ portion of the ‘Wild, Beautiful, Damned’ theme going) you are immediately thrust into a world where Ricky Martin fronted Guns ‘N’ Roses. The Latin beat a fiery guitar of ‘I Got it all’ merge into the Punkier ‘Revolution’ before the single ‘What’s it like to be a Girl?’ throws a little 70’s styled glitter groove into the pot.
‘The Ballad of Tommy Shelby’ shows the other side of the band mashing together cinematic villains, the Ramones, the Pistols and Sha Na Na and Mud to create something altogether unusual and foot tappingly danceable. If you thought ‘Like Tears in the Rain’ sounded like a slow one then you’re in for a surprise, it’s spiky, bouncy and sports a chorus lush with harmonies.
‘Thrill Kill Killer Club’ is all punk and spiky energy before ‘Maybe Tomorrow’ adds an almost Cult flavoured note of Pop to the mix and ‘I’ll Remember You’ gets all atmospheric high a high end 60’s ballad to begin before it explodes into the cascading melodies of the chorus, It’s one of the highlights here. We close though with the cover of Dexy’s ‘Come on Eileen’ a song surely everyone knows and has their own opinion of. Sadly my experience of the song was my sisters plying it about 50 times every morning at before school long after it left the top of the charts: others less traumatized I’m sure will love the hugely fun Pop-Punk treatment it receives here.
If you like the idea of a traditional Latin inspired rock band that also takes in the late 80’s Sunset Strip (though far less pronounced than in previous incarnations) a little Punk and a lot of swing, then you’ll love this. This time I can feel 60’s influences creeping into the mix too and it in all honestly it sits very nicely in the mix. Get out and see them and have some fun!
8 / 10
Preorder here: https://webstore.earache.com/A-Z/g/gypsy-pistoleros
Tracklisting: 1 Duende A Go Go Loco! | 2 I Got it all | 3 Revolution | 4 What’s it like to be a Girl? | 5 The Ballad of Tommy Shelby | 6 Like Tears in the Rain | 7 Thrill Kill Killer Club | 8 Maybe Tomorrow | 9 I’ll Remember You | 10 Come on Eileen
Live shows:
27th October – St Swithuns Church (Pre-Album Launch Party), Worcester
28th October – Sharkfest Festival, Cannock
3rd November – Hard Rock Hell Festival 2023 Album Launch show
4th November – Hard Rock Hell Festival 2023 (Main Stage)
18th November – The Ainsdale Cricket Club, Southport
25th November – Dementia Aware Festival, HMV Coventry
3rd December – Planet Rockstock, Trecco Bay, Wales
2024
Saturday 9th March – HARD ROCK HELL AOR X FESTIVAL, Great Yarmouth
GYPSY PISTOLEROS:
Gypsy Lee Pistolero – Vox
Shane Pistolero Sparkz – Guitars
Kerry Pistolero White – Bass
Crag Pistolero Shape – Drums
http://www.gypsypistoleros.com/
https://www.facebook.com/GPistoleros
