Raising Sand
Riding the Blinds EP
With a Police-issued sideburn license and with a number of big riffs on offer that is just about ready to be classed as a collection, Raising Sand are touting their retro rock in their first official release ‘Riding the Blinds’.
‘Unexpected Legacy’ picks up the torch with a chunky guitar that can solo as well as drive things along at a dirty-groove pace. Due to the volume of instrumentation on the track, the vocal has plenty of work to do to keep above the mix, but doesn’t slack on this account with a commanding shouty-melody.
‘Dogtown Blues’ takes things down a slightly Black Box route with some excellent guitar work building things up. The drums fly along like a steam-train, with a harmonica whistling a warning to the unsuspecting listeners further down the track.
A bit of rock and roll pace is injected into ‘Fake’, which flies by without quite as many hooky moments as it’s two predecessors. An intriguing musical section towards the end of the song adds a bit of class, but the song itself isn’t quite hitting the ‘Unexpected Legacy’ g-spot.
‘Witness to the Storm’ is the chilled ending to the record, reminding us by reflection that the other tracks are all rather down-to-business. Some bluesy guitars and vocals lead the way and tactful drumming helps things along.
It should be noted that the London music scene has been a little flooded with retro bands over the past couple of years. However, it has to be said that Raising Sand are leading the charge with a record that can’t be ignored.
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