NimfoniA – Vicky White

Sep12

The echo of the experience involving lost love, Vicky White is the new single from Hungarian outfit NimfoniA. It is a song as sultry as it is melancholic; a serenade of beauty and immersive shadows bred of an emotional tempest we have all experienced.

Consisting of guitarist/vocalist Zozo Debreczy, bassist Gábor Vermes, keyboardist Krisztián Kun, and drummer Zsolt Jánky, NimfoniA draw on the broad inspirations of artists such as The Beatles, Nirvana, Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Judas Priest, Creedence Clearwater Revival, and The Doors in their multi-flavoured sound. The latter pair most comes to mind as Vicky White seductively crawls through ears with the surf spicing of the guitar also resembling a reflective mix of The Shadows and Thee Oh Sees. It makes for a magnetic affair around a lyrical heart borne from the “sweet nightmare” Debreczy experienced in love with a girl named Vicky.

The track opens with the inviting strum of guitar, its gentle invitation lying within the similarly subdued but enticing mist of keys. Within their lure Debreczy’s dark Nick Cave meets Tom Waits tones unfurl emotional self-reflection, the sturdier gait of rhythms rising alongside to further capture the imagination.

Easily infectious and atmospherically compelling, Vicky White blossoms into a captivating siren of a song fuelled by love and tragedy; a memorable moment with a band you get the feeling we will be hearing a lot more about ahead.

Vicky White is available from September 15^th.

http://nimfonia.com/ https://www.facebook.com/NimfoniA https://twitter.com/nimfonia

Pete RingMaster 12/09/2017

Forty Feet Tall – Red Dressed

Apr1

You know you are on to a good thing when songs continue to repeat themselves in thoughts long after enjoying a close and personal encounter. Such is the way with the Red Dressed EP from US rockers Forty Feet Tall. Offering four slices of blues fuelled rock ‘n’ roll, the release is a wholly magnetic affair loaded with grooves which just do not know when to stay away; not that there is any wish for them to do so.

Formed in 2011 when four fifths of the band were in high school, Los Angeles based Forty Feet Tall has earned potent support and reputation across Southern California, leading to the band playing a host of prestigious venues such as The Troubadour, Club Nokia, The Roxy, and the Grammy Museum as well as the main stage at Topanga Days. Their first EP, 4AM released at the beginning of 2014, was swiftly eclipsed in success and attention by the band’s self-titled debut album later that same year. It revelled in inspiration taken from the likes of Pearl Jam, Jimi Hendrix, The Black Keys, The Strokes, Led Zeppelin, Dawes, and Howlin’ Wolf whilst offering its own breath of imagination, an essence blossoming to greater heights within Red Dressed.

Its title track sets things in motion, a resonating bassline the first beckon soon joined by percussion with a sense of hunger to it as to the eager strokes of guitar soon joining in. The lively simmer becomes an energetic dance, the keys of Charlie Sehres a captivating bloom alongside the enterprise of his brother Jack and vocalist Cole Gann’s guitars. With rhythms just as boisterous in the stop start bounce and subsequent fiery waltz, the track simply infects ears and appetite for spicy rock ‘n’ roll.

It is a superb start to the Chris Garcia produced EP, a moment just revelling in the band’s blues rock instincts with magnetic energy and craft as equally Gann’s vocal prowess, just as lively in the following Make It Hum. At first holding its self-back in a flirtatious prowl lined by tempting riffs as a melodic breeze wraps Gann’s just as subtle croon, the song’s simmer continually builds, igniting in a ballsy crescendo which still barely breaks the track’s relaxed gait. With a touch of bands like Black Tusk to its increasingly heavyweight eruptions, Guy Moore’s bass a great throaty growl through it all, and fire in the veins of the grooves wrapping the senses, the song is a sonic seduction aligned to an earthy rumble and thorough pleasure.

Two Shots is next with its bouncy gait and bass grumble, both entwined by more flirtation soaked grooves as Steven Driscoll’s laid back swinging beats punctuate the brewing blaze, a fire in the belly intensifying with increasing dynamism and incitement across the song. Once more Gann adds expressive colour and passion to the mix, though it is the tangy grooves which spark the biggest lust.

A fine cover of the Creedence Clearwater Revival track Run Through The Jungle brings things to a magnetic close, its roots and psych rock scented swagger and overall character, a radiant endeavour in the hands of Forty Feet Tall. It completes a release as fresh as it is a bubble of recognisable flavours and influences, a celebration of a band drawing up their own personality with thoroughly enjoyable results.

The Red Dressed EP is available now @ https://fortyfeettall.bandcamp.com/album/red-dressed

https://www.facebook.com/FortyFeetTall/

Pete RingMaster 29/03/2017

X-Ray Life: Self Titled

Mar5

x-ray life pic

Formed in 2011 by vocalist Mattia Briggi, Italian rockers X-Ray Life merge an appealing blend of hard rock, grunge, and blues into a release which captures the imagination and leaves behind strong satisfaction. Their self-titled debut album is an enthused and accomplished slab of rock which though it does not set any major fires burning certainly holds its own with skill and enterprise.

From Venezia, the quintet of Briggi, guitarists Corrado Ricucci and Giovanni Zanardo, bassist Matteo Rugliancic, and drummer Matteo Boranga, since forming has made steady progress within their homeland with their live performances winning many competitions and providing a song for a few compilation albums. Bringing essences from alternative rock and grunge to their own intent the band has a sound and style which combines nineties bands from Seattle and modern hard rock. Released via Atomic Stuff Records, their album has all the weaponry to further the presence of the band within Europe and beyond, its eleven songs keen and finely crafted slabs of honest rock n roll.

The punchy Machine Gun Kelly starts things off on the album with a combative edge to its energy and a fiery groove which copertina engages immediately within the infection of grazing sound. The vocals also carry a boisterousness to match the sounds and though at moments their delivery is weaker than in other parts, The Stone Temple Pilots feel of the track allows the discrepancy to pass by and makes for a good start to the release.

The following Everyone is A Star and Coma Like A Dream soon raise levels with their compelling sounds. The first is a prowling taunt upon the ear with a sturdy attitude coated bass and a mischievously teasing groove whilst the second is a contagious stomp of irresistible bulging rhythms and choppy agitated riffs. Both tracks are flush with impressive musicianship and hypnotic lures which are irresistible in their raw and uncluttered form with Coma Like A Dream one of the stand out invitations upon the album, and since forming has been the first track to initiate bringing attention to the band. Hey is a further pinnacle on the album, its absorbing intimidating groove and rasping effect coated vocals a snarl within the riot tempting rhythms and guitar abrasion. It is an excellent track which can be described as Velvet Revolver meets Temple of the Dog with a core of punk to its deliberate aggressive intent.

The sizzling blues/stoner wash of Lay On You and the classic rock/garage edge to Devil On Earth both offer decisive variety within the album and though they do not reach the levels of passion as inspired by earlier songs they are full of enjoyable invention and energy. With also tracks like Sad and 665 Inside, the album does dip in from its initial height in its middle, though each track is still a rewarding encounter, but regains its rung with the excellent Charlie The Shepherd. The song is a brawling furnace of acidic melodies soaked up by adrenaline fuelled storms of riffs, guitar lashes, and rhythmic intensity; dirty and insatiable the track is a bruising rock n roll stampede of energy.

Though it ends with its weakest track The Last Song, the album is a thoroughly enjoyable and satisfying release with plenty of strong rewards, including a great cover of the Creedence Clearwater Revival song, Susie Q. X-Ray Life is a band who knows how to create potent rock sounds and how to use them for an exciting time, an experience we all have a liking for.

www.xraylife.com

7.5/10

RingMaster 05/03/2013

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