Rival Sons – Pressure & Time

site | label | buy

Current rock hot property Rival Sons have a very simple remit: to sound as much like they belong in the ’70s as possible. Not a bad thing, and something other outfits such as Graveyard have achieved rather well. Rival Sons certainly have the songs for it, and vocalist Jay Buchanan’s voice is perfect for it; similar to Vintage Trouble‘s Ty Taylor in places. But to try to emphasis the retro qualities of their sound the band have gone for a production intended to make everything sound rough and gritty. Unfortunately this comes across in a similar way to abysmal Robert Rodriguez movie ‘Planet Terror’, where the grainy effect applied to the footage to make it look worn and aging in an attempt to mimic the “grindhouse” style backfired by looking simply like a digital effect applied to an obviously modern recording. Musically Rival Sons probably don’t offer much to the budding revivalist genre. Graveyard have better songs and far more sincerity, Vintage Trouble have more energy, the Bonamassa riffs they’re trying to use are understandably executed in a superior manor by the man himself on the Black Country Communion albums, and bands like Jaded Sun add more to the style in terms of updating it. Nevertheless, compared to the other media-named leading lights of rock at the moment (The Treatment, Black Spiders) Rival Sons have probably produced the best album, with the better mix of musicianship (really what ’70s rock was about) and catchy songs. It’s still not the world-changer the classic rock press would have everyone believe though. The groovy riffs deserve better songs.

Written by Andy Lye
More: 2011, Albums, Hard Rock, Quick.Play Reviews, Rival Sons