When it comes to rock music, it’s often said that they just don’t make them like they used to, but not if Rival Sons has anything to say about it. On their second full-length album Pressure & Time, the L.A.-based quartet pulls together blues and rock and roll, throws in singer Jay Buchanan’s soulful, soaring vocals and cranks it all up to blistering volumes. Comparisons to the likes of Led Zeppelin, Mountain or even Wolfmother wouldn’t be far off, and the influence of other great artists from decades past is undeniable, but even so, in an era when rock has lost its way, Rival Sons excels at building on that high-powered classic rock sound. The album’s titular track, for instance, uses a four-note passage similar to one found in Zep’s “Out On the Tiles” but gives it a powerful new urgency as the song’s main hook. Other highlights include: “Gypsy Heart” with its funky riffs and backbeats and musings on the wayward lifestyle; ”All Over the Road” that, frankly, just makes driving a car sound sexy again; and the glorious, organ-tinged love letter ”Only One”.
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February 8, 2012
