SHOTGUN SAWYER - Bury The Hatchet

Release date April 19/19 (Ripple Music)

Borrowing the main riff from Montrose's 'Space Station No. 5' is always a great way to initiate an album, which is just what Shotgun Sawyer does with its opening track, 'Ain't Trying To Go Down Slow'. Up-tempo with an incessant throb, it's guaranteed to grab the listener's attention out the gate. Ears sufficiently pealed to the speakers, Shotgun Sawyer then lead you on a tour through the different facets of blues-based rock.

Evoking an image of hanging out by a campfire somewhere in the deep south, the band mix their blues-based concoctions on this their sophomore full length. There are a number of straight-up hard rockers, an up-beat acoustic ditty ('Backwoods Bear'), some amplified hard blues and even the waft of some smoldering psychedelic blues. This certainly ain't a one-dimensional beast to tackle, that's for sure.

If that ain't enough to entice you, add some way cool vocals in the Ian Astbury (The Cult) vein, along with some Billy-Gibbons (ZZ Top) inspired guitar soloing dotted throughout, all of which draws you in to take in another lung-full of the throbbing, smoky fare. The best hard rock album I’ve come across this year. Authentic.

[8]