By Anita Stewart, Managing Editor
New Album Review: “Wanted”
Release Date: September 24, 2021
Well, a hearty welcome goes out to these guys just entering the well-trafficked and prolific blues scene in the UK. This band has a symmetry that makes them sound like classic blues rock artists of the past, such as Johnny Winter, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Billy Gibbons, Eric Clapton, Robin Trower and even Jimi Hendrix (gasp)–there, I said it! These guys are just plain good and you can hear their greatest guitar god inspirations in their songs! They are on their way up!
We covered Five Points Gang’s single release, “How Long,” a great song that had a very clever social justice message with the accompanying video. You can check out that review HERE. The 13 track “Wanted” album was just released by Lunaria Records and I have to say, every track on here is great and it is very hard to pick favorites. Some songs are blues infused rock and roll, others are straight up blues rock hailing back to some retro sounds, but they clearly define their own sound; an amazing amount of it coming from only three musicians!
“This album represents the first time I’ve been truthful on a recording,” reflects guitarist and vocalist Joe Pearson. “I started playing guitar 29 years ago, and I feel that this album finally achieves the ambitions I had as an 8 year old.”
Snap Studios in London was where the album was recorded and the whole idea was to make the songs on the album sound like the band’s live performances. “Our first intention was to capture what we do in a live situation with our natural sound and personality,” explains Gaet Allard. “These songs are rooted in blues but we have a natural heavy sound and rock energy when we play together.”
The band brought in producer Julien Baraness to utilize his recording and engineering skills. “Julien understood what we were trying to achieve right from the beginning,” explains Joe. “We really liked his decision to commit to sounds in the studio, rather than relying on post-production. This appealed to us as it’s an old-school way of thinking and we wanted to cut a record the way it used to be done.”
Some of the stand-outs on the album include: “How Long,” no doubt the most commercial cut on the album with a cool video, the blues heavy “All in All,” the slower tempo “Let’s Stay Together,” the electric blues and brass sounds of “Drifting Away, the retro “What Kind of Man,” the clever lyrics and raucous guitar of “All Points Bulletin” and the slower tempo and accompanying cowboy video of “The Only One.”
Rock at Night says: “If blues-rock is your jam, this is the album for you! What incredible artistry from these three musicians! Definitely one of my favorite albums of the year so far. While they pay homage to the greats of the past, they create and define their own unique niche. And they insist on keeping the creative expression and chemistry of their live shows alive on their recordings. Really want to see this band in concert!”
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