Gumshoe – The Governor’s Brother

Jan8

Condemned by love, life, and the leaden disparities which hungrily frequent the secret backwaters of everyday existence, the heart of the tales shared by Gumshoe are rich fascinations which simply seduce ears and imagination. Proof comes with the new album from the Athens in Georgia hailing US outfit, The Governor’s Brother a collection of dark intimation someone like David Lynch would relish giving a visual face to.

With the imagination teasing lyrical prowess of vocalist/guitarist Andy Dixon, his magnetic narration and the creative evocation of sound cast by bassist Jef Whatley and drummer John Norris, The Governor’s Brother simply dragged ears and appetite into its rich crepuscular landscape. Musically, Gumshoe conjures with a blend of shadow embracing folk, country, and blues; their sound matching and echoing the tenebrific stories explored.

The Governor’s Brother opens up with Barking At Shadows and its unrushed amble is an instantly captivating proposal. It is a lure only accentuated as Dixon shares the intimate breath of the song and the band spring its dawdling swing. Pure seduction as it draws the listener into its ill-lit heart the track is a compelling introduction and potent sign of things to come as confirmed by the following Call Me Mr. Rubber Belly.

The second song immediately shows a firmer hand but equally saunters along with a heavy, bordering on lumbering gait. Wiry blues nurtured tendrils of guitar illuminate word and voice as rhythms impose their thickly enticing bait; hues of punk and country rock colouring the brooding virulence which infested ears and imagination before Amorosa steals its own fair share of the album’s limelight with its unworldly cryptid bred romance.

Next up, the irresistible I Am The Sun provides another instantaneous fixation as richly enticing flames of brass spring eagerly across another reserved yet eager stroll of sound and voice as firmly catchy as it is suggestive while Bye Bye Baby emulates its pleasure binding exploits with its own individually dancing jangle and vocal enterprise. Maybe taking a touch longer to warm up than its predecessor, the song soon has body and attention swinging to its pop ‘n’ folk rock exploits carrying a great warped Talking Heads meets Roy Orbison flavouring.

The album rounds its manipulation of storytelling and imagination with firstly C.L.A.U.S., a tenacious blues/surf tempting which sometimes is overrun with less collected lust as it serenades the focus of its inspiration, and finally the melancholy engulfed desolation bred croon of Never Enough. A track which haunts long past its departure, it is a riveting and delicious end to a release which is easily drawing us back time and time again.

An encounter which seems to further blossom as it reveals more of its portentous intrigue loaded depths listen by listen, The Governor’s Brother is a bewitching anthology of word and sound; its dark poetry tantalising and accompanying but just as potent music a masterful insinuation in an album which just commands keen attention.

The Governor’s Brother is available now across most online stores.

https://www.facebook.com/gumshoetunes/

Pete RingMaster 8/01/2019

Matty T Wall – Sidewinder

Aug13

It is easy to get the feeling that Matty T Wall is a well-respected and keenly supported artist in his Australian homeland, his new album carrying all the intimation and just as simple to expect its fine body of songs to push the man towards far broader international attention. Sidewinder is an imaginative and inventively accomplished proposition bred in the blues and its roots but Wall is an artist also unafraid to embrace an array of other flavours modern and past. This makes for a release which captivates and surprises with regularity; a record which is a real pleasure to join.

With bassist Stephen Walker and drummer Ric Whittle alongside, Wall creates a tapestry of genres and styles with his openly creative and individual playing. His guitar spins tales as potent as his voice, evidence immediate in album opener Slideride. The instrumental in seconds had ears gripped, the fuzz of guitar and tease of keys provided by Gordon Cant instant devilry inciting body and imagination as the track’s devilish stroll erupted into life. Flames of horns from Steve Searle just added to the manipulation, the song a swinging rousing slice of enterprise kicking the album off in magnificent style.

It is a start kept lively and potent by the album’s following title track. Blues and hard rock unite in a song which swiftly has the body bouncing, Wall’s vocals a rich ingredient in its growing engagement with ears. It has a traditional air to its flavouring but united with bold enterprise from modern imagination providing something unashamedly familiar but keenly fresh.

As suggested earlier, there is an eclectic character to the album no better epitomised than by the following Something Beautiful. A cover of the Troy “Trombone Shorty” Andrews track it is a glorious slice of pop shaped rock which just radiates temptation from the magnetic vocals to the uncomplicated but flirtatious tease of guitar and the understated but potent moody hues of the bass. It is a superb rival to its predecessors for best album song and in turn matched by another cover in Wall’s version of Sam Cooke’s Change Is Gonna Come; itself a firmly captivating take on a great song with the strings of Jonas Petersen an added pleasure.

Can’t Stop Thinking shares its seductive prowess next, the fiery vines of Wall’s guitar compelling heat to the darker stroll of the bass and the crisp raps of Whittle’s beats. Cant’s organ is a link between the shades, a suggestive glaze and temper to the song’s electric jazz fire. From its relative calm, the rock ‘n’ roll of the excellent Shake It had the body bouncing with ease straight after, its blues intoxication a boozy but defined incitement firmly rivalled by Going Down. The latter is a version of the Don Nix classic originally recorded by Moloch in the late sixties. It is a song given numerous outings by an array of acclaimed artists over the years and Wall’s ballsy rendition ranks high among them.

The jazzy flirtation of Aint That The Truth is a mellower but no less enticing turn in the album’s adventure; a song which lured participation in voice and hips as easily as it had ears hungry for more. Its summery swing was unadulterated temptation setting up the appetite perfectly for the rawer antics of Sophia’s Strut. Whether it was or not, the instrumental feels like an improv slice of fun taking the listener into the charged surroundings of an old school blues club, the track rocking out with Wall’s open craft and its inherent devilment.

The groove woven Walk Out The Door is an even more compelling moment in the release with its fusion of funk, jazz, and blues rock a spark to losing inhibitions as another pinnacle within Sidewinder emerged with style and relish. Bred from essences drawn from across the decades, the track swiftly proved addictive on its first listen before compliant ears were just as drawn by the intimate balladry of Leave It All Behind and its delicate melodies, evocative vocals, and the melancholy draped magnetism of strings.

The album concludes with a cover of the Chris Thomas King song Mississippi Kkkrossroads, Wall adding to its hip hop/electric blues credentials with his own rock ‘n’ roll instincts. It is a great end to an album which has increasingly impressed and aroused. Matty T Wall might be a new name to a great many outside of the Australian rock scene but not for much longer if Sidewinder gets the attention it undoubtedly warrants.

Sidewinder is out now via Hipsterdumpster Records across most online stores.

https://www.mattytwall.com/ https://www.facebook.com/mattytwall/ https://twitter.com/mattytwall/

Pete RingMaster 13/08/2018

Cat Dail – Fight for Love

Jun26

Sparking a spring in the step as it dances with the imagination, Fight for Love is the new release from US singer songwriter Cat Dail. It is a seven track offering which creates a web of styles and flavours woven into one irresistible party for ears with the Chesterfield, NH bred Cat. She has been a potent participant in her national Indie rock scene since the nineties and surely is now about to tempt far broader attention with this contagion fuelled new album.

Not only as a whole but individually the songs within Fight for Love are joyful conspiracies of sound. Whether you call its instincts as pop, rock, funk, blues or whatever, and all apply song by song, the fusion of flavours is a perpetually imaginative and magnet combination. Each track has a unique personality and invention united in the welcoming enterprise of Cat’s voice and lyrical temptation.

The EP begins with Can’t Buy Love, the song slipping in on a rhythmic impulse to spread a tantalising climate of woozy intimation and sound around the immediately engaging tones of Cat. Seductively haunting and suggestive in its melodic air, the song similarly captivates with its hip sparking sway and slow but lithe gait; the craft of guitarist/bassist Teddy Kumpel and drummer Shawn Pelton, as across the whole release, matching the prowess of Cat. Surf, blues, and country spices all add to the smoky temptation getting the EP off to an ear grabbing start.

Similar hues collude in the following Player, a slice of rock funkiness and melodic rock with a whiff of Fleetwood Mac to its lively stroll. Once more the vocals just dance on the ears as they lyrically tease, the song’s imagination just as rich and pleasurable as the song fluidly ebbs and flows in its constantly inspiring energy before Catch Fire grips feet and hips with its mellower but just as manipulative shuffle. Reggae nurtured flavours unite with surf rock currents as the song flirtatiously entices, a country twang teasing in its swarthy air.

Both tracks just hit the spot though are still eclipsed by the following Wonder Love, a heavier slice of pop ‘n’ rock which almost prowls the senses before uncaging one inescapably catchy chorus. Everything about the track is pure temptation amidst creative manoeuvres which just got under the skin in swift time, again an array of flavours combining to charm and bewitch.

Featuring trombonist Clark Gayton and Steven Bernstein on slide trumpet, Flow Zone is equally as compelling and joyous with its Talking Heads meets Molotov Jukebox conjured canter. Unsurprisingly another individual collage of flavours is honed into an ear gripping adventure around rhythms which alone incite body and spirit to indulge. It all adds up to the best track on the release, one which lingers and teases long past its departure.

The EP concludes with the pair of She Can Fly and Molly & Matchbox. The first offers an alluring sunshine of pop lined sound, a radiant embrace of melodic romance added to by the keys of Andy Erin and led by the perpetually tempting voice of Cat. Its successor is a country rock bred encounter with sultry climes and melodies around instinctively open vocals and words. There is also a fire in its belly which bubbles up from the song’s natural simmer and though, simply down to personal tastes, the song did not thrill as its predecessors it still ensured the album closed on an unmistakable high.

However you wish to describe Cat Dail’s sound, which as its press release asks “Is it Blues? Funk? Rock? Soul? Folk?” it is sheer magnetism and pleasure within Fight for Love, a record which puts a smile on the face and in the spirit.

Fight for Love is available now @ https://store.cdbaby.com/cd/kyalb01283297 and https://catdail.bandcamp.com/album/fight-for-love

https://catdailmusic.com/ https://www.facebook.com/catdailmusic/ https://twitter.com/catdailmusic

Pete RingMaster 26/06/2018

Hogs – Fingerprints

May22

Playing hard rock with a tantalising blend of funk, blues, and other varied flavours to it, Italian band Hogs have just released second album Fingerprints. It is an encounter which builds on a debut from Italians which certainly courted keen attention and has all the imagination to take the Florence outfit to a far broader placed audience.

The band’s seeds began in 2012 with guitarist Francesco Bottai, bassist Luca Cantasano, and drummer Pino Gulli; their creative union the spring board for the emergence of Hogs. The band’s line-up was subsequently completed by vocalist Simone Cei. 2015 saw the release of debut album, HOGS in fishnets via Red Cat Records who the band has again linked up with for Fingerprints. It was an encounter openly suggesting potential and imagination within its accomplished body; intimation now realised within its highly enjoyable successor.

Fingerprints opens up with Man size and instantly chunky riffs tempt with tenacious rhythms in close quarter. As it settles down, a blues spicing fires up within its classic rock setting, Cei’s potent tones at the core matched by the guest vocals of Carlotta Cocchi. Catchy in its swing, robust in its touch and wonderfully unpredictable in its enterprise, the imagination is soon caught in its drama, its array of styles and flavours woven into one strong magnetic start.

Stinking like a dog follows and is instantly casting a tantalising shuffle shaped by the dextrous swings of Gulli and the animated touch of Botta’s guitar. Hips could not escape the effect of the song’s swing, its funkiness, driven by the excellent tenacity of Cantasano’s bass, soon getting under the skin.

The infectious exploits of Mr. Hide is just as manipulative; its bluesy stroll and melodic rock shaped tempting a captivating launch to sonic flames and vocal reflection before making way for the warm sonic climes of Australia summerland. Again there is a classic rock breath to the song and though it misses the more unpredictable and adventurous twists of its predecessors, it leaves ears and appetite more than satisfied especially with the individual craft of the band in full display.

The jazzy air and touch of Down to the river needs little time to stir the imagination next, its reggae flavoured instincts just as magnetic as the organ of Federico Pacini; its inviting sway and the heart bred expression of Cei, a rich lure on top.

Across the likes of the boisterously magnetic Another dawn and the rousingly raucous Man of the score, enterprise and imagination fly from the speakers. The second of the pair is especially compelling with its animated rock ‘n’ roll while the increasingly captivating Can’t find my home is a web of alternative, hard and blues rock which teases with the familiar and refreshes with the individual. Pacini adds his keys to the escapade once again as too in Jewish vagabond which follows, this song a ballad with a lively smoulder and melodic elegance which too just became more magnetic by the minute and play, country borne sighs courtesy of Paolo Giorgi’s peddle guitar adding to the sunshine of the song.

Both songs relish the imagination open in varying degrees within the album, unexpected turns which surprise among more recognisable strains of enterprise and to be found within the closing pair of Don’t stop moving and Just for one day. The excellent first is one of the songs which seems so familiar from start to finish yet only pleasures and recruits keen participation alongside the imagination. The final track is a calm emotively cast ballad; a sunset of melodic and vocal intimation which caresses as potently as it flames around ears.

It is fair to say that the Hogs sound is not one we would naturally be drawn to but Fingerprints is a release we just took too. It is one which also grew in potency and persuasion play by play so worth a good look at we reckon.

Fingerprints is available now through Red Cat Records/7Hard now through most stores.

https://www.facebook.com/hogsband

Pete RingMaster20/05/2018

Louis Antoniou – Lonesomeville / I Let The Rain Fall Hard

Mar15

Having already given the year a well-received single in You Ain’t The Girl this past February, British rocker Louis Antoniou brings a two track offering this March to enhance his emerging presence on the national rock scene. It is the union of two individual songs bound in Antoniou’s increasingly distinctive touch, a pair which just lures continued attention of the Londoner.

Planning five singles this year, Antoniou has already earned a potent reputation through his live presence, one sure to be escalated by his songs going by the three unveiled so far this year. Whereas You Ain’t The Girl has a rousing rock pop heart, new offering Lonesomeville embraces the sixties rock ‘n’ roll instincts of the artist which were lurking in the background of its predecessor. The song bounds in with a boisterous stroll, bouncing into view on an eagerly infectious groove and rhythmic shuffle. Antoniou’s tones are just as catchy, their slight twang extra spicing on the bold swagger of rhythms and the tenacious enterprise of the guitar; it all luring eager attention.

https://open.spotify.com/embed/track/1nu3r9zwt617K1O43pdmEb

I Let The Rain Fall Hard embraces a blues rich hue which with the singer’s natural rock ‘n’ roll bent quickly entices ears and appetite. A tale of lost love within a climate of intimacy and melodic melancholy, the song still cannot help strolling along with a vibrant catchy gait which eagerly gets into the natural swing of hips and the shuffle of feet.

Both songs make an ear pleasing next step in the blossoming career of Louis Antoniou with anticipation for the next single alongside.
https://open.spotify.com/embed/track/3fGJNr4l7mFb5DnPEno9Kz

Lonesomeville / I Let The Rain Fall Hard is released March 16^th.

https://www.louisantoniou.com/ https://www.facebook.com/Louisantonioumusic/

Pete RingMaster 14/03/2018

To Bear Sir – Hold Yourself Tight

Mar4

TBS_RingMasterReview

Hold Yourself Tight is the debut album of To Bear Sir, the solo project of someone who has already, like for so many others, made a major impact on our ears and passions. The creative provocateur constantly stirring up the imagination is Welsh songwriter/vocalist/musician Russell Toomey though you might know him better as the creator/frontman of My Red Cell, Innercity Pirates, and Denim Snakes; three bands which all made a striking impact on the UK underground scene with their individual sounds and characters, each deserving far more attention and success than found.

It is a height of recognition which just might be sparked by To Bear Sir. Each of Toomey’s bands has even with some strains of similarity been wholly unique propositions to each other and indeed any band around them but To Bear Sir is a gulf away from those before it and just as impressive.

Debut album, Hold Yourself Tight reveals bare intimacy not knowingly heard in its creator’s work before, the songs giving greater meaning and echo to the name of the project. The diverse array of tracks and styles breeding its songs come together to create one of the most haunting, emotionally open, and generally irresistible propositions heard. From its first breath, the release bewitches, its heart akin to the listener’s sharing melancholy and despairs mutually known and felt.

Produced by Todd Campbell, Hold Yourself Tight opens up with Mother I’m Sorry. As solemn strings rise to share emotive fingers on ears, that heartrending air is swiftly inescapable, only thickening as a lone guitar strum takes over with its own shadowed melody. Toomey’s distinctive tones soon follow bringing a dark blues haunting and seduction with it reflected in the sounds hugging his presence. Funereal in gait, compelling in regret and touch, the song is sheer melancholic beauty.

art_RingMasterReview It is a stunning start quickly matched by Medi-Monster, a slightly livelier affair in energy with brooding shadows to its wiry melodies. Vocals are a wonderfully dispirited incitement, magnetic and mournfully introspective but luring full participation with the song’s almost disturbingly catchy chorus. It is impossible not to get physically and emotionally involved with either of the first pair of proposals or with the albums title track which follows. Its rhythmic shuffle has a touch of Fatboy Slim to it making a kinetic canvas for the dark folk serenade of voice and melody. A blend of contrasting textures, the track seduces hips and thoughts with ease even if not quite matching up to the lofty heights of its predecessors.

The new single from To Bear Sir is next, a song which could not be a better teaser for project and album if it tried. The Begging Ends Here is superb, rhythmically shamanic whilst cinematically and indeed emotionally so dark that it throbs with drama. It’s predominantly minimalistic body is enriched by flames of guitar with Toomey’s earnest croon inciting greater intensity in the heart and raw rock ‘n’ roll of the song. People are rightfully drooling about the new ex-Reuben frontman Jamie Lenman’s new single Mississippi, a song actually in similar vein to The Begging Ends Here and just as stirring and thrilling is Toomey’s essential treat.

Strings again lay their suggestive hands on ears as the sorrowful, hope searching Too Late closes in next, its sentiment and sad grace raw potency. It is an essence intensified even more in Loves That One Thing, an emotional incitement of voice and piano trespassing on personal truth and fresh wounds.

The Walk has a low key country scented breath next, a flavour bring new hues to another increasingly alluring mourn and disquieting charm whose persuasive elements conjure 3 Years to similarly enjoyable heights with keys and voice once more an enticing union as darker hues cradle their engaging solemnity. Each of the two pulls ears and thoughts into their world before the bluesy dance of It’s Not Over Until I Say So makes its energetic play. It is a track which did not initially convince as fully as others within the album, though its bursts of scuzzy delta blues guitar quickly had the appetite licking its lips, but lingered maybe more than most to persistently tempt and subsequently seduce.

Hold Yourself Tight is closed by the rueful yet accepting and occasionally hopeful Dream, a captivation echoing the heart of the album in its brief absorbing minutes. There were certain expectations waiting for this album because of past triumphs and not one of them was fed. To Bear Sir is a whole new unique adventure from Russell Toomey, a bold and personal one which is really rather special and deserves your intrigue at the very least.

Hold Yourself Tight will be released the first week of May.

Upcoming live dates:

20th of April – Clwb Ifor Bach, Cardiff with Palace and Willie J Healey

3rd of May – Riverside Tavern, Newport

10th of May – The Monarch, Camden

https://www.facebook.com/tobearsir/

Pete RingMaster 04/03/2017

Jingo – Make Some Money, Buy Some Love

Feb22

jingo_RingMasterReview

March 11^th sees the eagerly anticipated second album from British rock band Jingo and it is very easy to say that it does not let expectations, bred from the band’s previous impressive releases, down. The ten tracks making up Make Some Money, Buy Some Love are the band’s most eclectic bunch yet, at times in an understated way with closer attention revealing the new myriad of flavours and broad imagination bringing them to life. Just as importantly, it is another mesmerising collection of songs feeding in us and their growing wealth of fans an already eager appetite for the band’s invention and carrying the potential to excite another hungry wave of newcomers to the world of Jingo.

Formed by husband and wife, guitarist/vocalist Jack and vocalist/keyboardist/guitarist Katie Buckett, Jingo seem to have made a strong impact with every move since Jingo played its debut live show was supporting Blur’s Graham Coxon. Through a clutch of captivating singles, creatively provocative EPs, and striking debut album The Art Of Loving of 2014, as well as a live presence seeing the London based band take their imagination and craft across the UK and over to the US, France, Germany, and Belgium, Jingo has enticed rich interest and fan support which has through a highly successful pre-order campaign enabled the band to release Make Some Money, Buy Some Love on CD and vinyl as well as digitally.

With its line-up completed by the invention of Nima Safai, Michael Hussain, and Kelly Lenahan, Jingo has from day one never been easy to pigeonhole. They are generally tagged as alternative rock and have found themselves compared to the varied likes of Portishead, The Magic Numbers, Not Blood Paint, Fleetwood Mac, Interpol, and Jess & the Ancient Ones along the way. As Make Some Money, Buy Some Love again proves Jingo spins broad tapestries which explore diversity with zeal to match their eagerly creative imagination.

art_RingMasterReview Recorded in New York with producer Kahan James, and mastered by Kevin Blackler (Raconteurs, RHCP etc.), Make Some Money, Buy Some Love opens up with Lifer, the alluring tones of Katie cradled by melodic coaxing as the bass strolls with a controlled but carefree grace. Crisp beats add to the enticement instantly flirting with ears, the song’s underlying funkiness infesting its gait and the listener as pop catchiness and lyrical romancing tempt. Drama is never far from a Jingo twist and turn, its boldest attraction lining Katie’s vocal prowess especially here in a gem of an introduction.

All of the track’s qualities and more emerge in the following Sirens and Vices, Its rhythmic bait quickly infecting feet as melody woven grooves seize hips. Both elements add to the flirtatious nature of the song, impassioned vocals and raw, fiery textures growing in the blend of smouldering and raucous seduction. Grabbing ears and imagination from the first second, it only tightens its grip second by second squeezing lustful responses out before making way for the pop revelry of Money. It is instinctive catchiness with a steely backbone and bold attitude though, dancing persistently and mischievously as the song teases with playful coquetry.

From a busy bedlam Gaia emerges with its own melodic grace and emotive eloquence next, Katie joined by the equally potent tones of Jack as keys and guitars paint their own poetic picture over a more forceful rhythmic spine. It is pure magnetism with a just unveiled eye catching video to match.

Never Love Again also has little trouble winning attention and pleasure as its evocative melodies and warmly invasive essences hug captivating vocals. The song never quite reaches the heights of its predecessors but never lacks a second of enjoyable adventure before the outstanding Death Counts takes over. The track is nothing less than melancholic beauty becoming more exotic, almost sinister, and relentlessly beguiling with each passing seduction of passion fuelled notes and vocal fascination.

The body is back jumping around with Let’s Be Friends next; its noir lit drama and tenacious rhythmic dexterity enough alone to enslave the imagination. Katie is like a devious puppeteer in the midst of the brew of fire bred grooves, agitated beats, and frequently concussive energy; her lures as inescapable as the gloriously tempestuous textures making up another mighty highlight within Make Some Money, Buy Some Love.

Last year’s sensational single Sweet Anne follows, Katie and Jack united in crooning temptation as initially the song gently grows in ears. Soon it is in full swing with boisterous rhythms skirting the tangy funk infused hooks and lecherous grooves uniting and barging against each other. It too has an irresistible tempest like texture to its body but equally melodic calm makes a compelling persuasion in between the song’s moments of vociferous and explosive carnival like devilry.

The album is completed by firstly the melodic romance and harmonic charm of Supersymmetry, one simply bewitching encounter with fire in its heart and finally by the pop rock seducing of The Shell. Both tracks solicit emotions and body to get involved in quick time and each leave only a want for more, the perpetual hunger which seems to come with every Jingo encounter.

For Make Some Money, Buy Some Love, Jingo has honed their sound into something as diverse and bold as ever but exploring both with a more seamlessly and easily flowing touch; the result being another Jingo moment which makes the world a better place.

Make Some Money, Buy Some Love is released March 11^th