Rival Sons – Head Down (Earache Records)
When I discovered Rival Sons a few months back I couldn’t believe what I was hearing, I got giddy, I got excited by music again and I couldn’t stop playing Pressure & Time for days and boy if you loved the last album, your going to love this one. It’s a killer release, everything you dug from the last one is all here, killer vocals, solid musicianship, good lyrics plus solid production makes this a winner. The opening track Keep On Swinging kicks it off like a ton of bricks exploding, solid vocals, mixed with some excellent riffs and guitar playing plus Jay Buchanan solid voice are on fire. Wild Animal is a favorite of mine off the album; it’s a very catchy tune, solid musicianship mixed with some great vocals, You can feel the blues influences seeping thru the track and it just gives it something extra special to the track. You Want To has Jay singing on fire, his vocal range is incredible, he one of the best vocalist for a band I’ve heard in ages and this song just really shows off how good he is a vocalist. It’s a very catchy groovy track and guitar playing is solid, there is a real strong blues influence in the bridge and it’s just good and of course Jay just is on fire. Until The Sun Comes has a real r&b influence to it, love the lyrics and the vocalist, the drumming is amazing. It’s just a catchy solid tune. Run From Revelation has a killer blues intro with solid drumming, Jay vocals and lyrics just are on fire. Jordan is one of the big songs, it’s the anthem where Jay vocals just shine, it’s a slow crafted song but the band shows off it can write a song that will be timeless and classic in no time and they do it well. All The Way is a little bluesy, even a little swampy but the way jay sings and the way the band performs it’s such a ripping track. The Heist is an awesome tune with solid lyrics and vocals. The band is on fire as they are with all of the tracks. Three Fingers has such a cool intro, love the guitar playing and the drumming is awesome, another pick off the album for me, love the lyrics. Nava is the instrumental track and shows of the musicianship of the band are a nice touch on the album which leads up to the song of Manifest Destiny which is done in two parts. It’s a song that reminds me a lot of another band the way the opening is structure to the way the vocals and band perform the song and it’s a little more darker almost than the other tracks, True is the last song on the CD, and has some amazing vocals by Jay and just a acoustic guitar and a really good way to finish off an album. I loved this album, it was like I was 13 years old again and discovering my first band, I got excited by music again. Make no mistake these guys are an amazing band. I love what they do. These guys deserve the success they are getting because what they do is so good. This is one of my albums of the year. Add this to your collection now.
