Rival Sons – Head Down
Rival Sons – Head Down CD (Earache Records)
From swaggering opening track ‘Keep On Swinging’ it’s clear that California’s Rival Sons wear their influences on their sleeves, with drummer Mike Miley bashing out beats with a ferocity which John Bonham would surely approve of, vocalist Jay Buchanan’s powerful Plant/Rogers-esque falsetto and Scott Holiday and Robin Everharts’ soulful guitar and bass grooves. But to write off RS as mere copyists is both unfair and inaccurate. The band allow their 60s/70s British blues rock influences to stand at the forefront of their sound with obvious references points such as Free on the powerful ‘Run From Revelation’, but allow themselves to delve deep into 60s psychedelia on ‘Wild Animal’ (with a much restrained vocal performance from Buchanan), the sprawling 8 minute head wreck ‘Manifest Destiny Pt. 1’ and the obligatory blues ballad ‘Jordan’. If anything there’s slightly more of a soul leaning sound to ‘Head Down’ than its predecessor ‘Pressure & Time’ but no loss in the consistency of the song writing and musicianship. Ian Pickens
