Album Review: Little Barrie - Death Express
You know that bloke whose effortless glide into the local boozer is met with groans by all the guys inside looking for love?
All the women love him. His charismatic demeanour, well-chiselled face and sweet smelling aftershave make the ladies gravitate towards him like iron filings to a magnet.
This album is that guy. It's brash without being abrasive, cool without being cocky. It oozes funk and charm and is full of killer melodies and intricate instrumentals that link one track to another in the smoothest of transitions.
Barrie Cadogan, Lewis Wharton and Virgil Howe haven't just hit the nail on the head, they've smashed it through the other side of the wall.
The grainy sound will be familiar to fans of hit Breaking Bad spin-off Better Call Saul, these guys wrote the theme tune. It features here, extended into a full track which thinly veils an underbelly of aggression it increasingly struggles to contain as it draws on.
It is just one example of Cadogan's excellent strum skills - a guitarist used by the likes of Primal Scream, Paul Weller and Spiritualized, among others.
The strained keys of I.5.C.A. are another. It's gruff stuff, with a multi-pronged vocal attack floating over the top like the most parched of desert suns.
Golden Age, too, with its almost militaristic beats from drummer Virgil Howe is another pace and facet to the sound.
The production value shines through here perfectly. Stumbled upon accidentally by necessity, they decided the positive reaction to early recordings using old equipment in their practice studio should be used at length for a full record.
The result is this almost canned sound that mixes guitar grooves of the past and present majestically - it points to a bright future if other groups follow tack.
There is a great bit of individuality to their work. While nodding to elements of The Coral, Caesars, early Kasabian, Black Keys, they don't sit in one niche per se.
Tracks like New Disease and the title track - definitely the album's highlight - display dalliances with different beats that verge almost on dance - like The Music used to.
This is, quite simply, brilliant. A must-purchase for guitar lovers of 90s rock. We can't wait to see these songs brought to life on stage.
Rating: 5/5
Little Barrie close their autumn tour with a show at Birmingham's Actress & Bishop on September 30.
