RIVAL SONS
''PRESSURE & TIME''
JUNE 20 2011
30:49
1. All Over the Road /2:54
2. Young Love /3:00
3. Pressure and Time /3:16
4. Only One /3:11
5. Get Mine /2:23
6. Burn Down Los Angeles /2:25
7. Save Me /2:34
8. Gypsy Heart /3:29
9. White Noise /3:02
10. Face of Light /4:28
Scott Holiday/Guitar
Robin Everhart/Bass
Mike Miley/Drums
Jay Buchanan/Vocals
Arlan Shierbaum/Hammond B3, Wurlitzer
REVIEW
by William Ruhlmann
Earache Records is nominally a label devoted to death metal, but anyone who buys Rival Sons' Pressure & Time expecting an album in that style is likely to be disappointed, just as any rock fan who avoids it with the same expectation will be missing out. The Los Angeles quartet consisting of singer Jay Buchanan, guitarist Scott Holiday, bassist Robin Everhart, and drummer Mike Miley doesn't play death metal, though its music might be called early or pre-metal. Simply put, Rival Sons are a power trio plus singer in the traditional style, who might have made this album after listening to the first Led Zeppelin LP over and over for a day or two. Songs like the title track and "Gypsy Heart" find Buchanan wailing away in a piercing tenor reminiscent of Robert Plant, while Holiday plays Jimmy Page-like power chords, and even the closing power ballad "Face of Light" is a Zeppelin-esque change of pace. Rival Sons do exhibit some other influences on Pressure & Time (which is their first album for a proper record label following the self-released full-length Before the Fire and an EP called Rival Sons). "All Over the Road," for example, calls to mind Deep Purple's early days (the days of "Hush," not "Smoke on the Water"), while Buchanan, despite singing in a higher register, demonstrates an Eric Burdon-like swagger on "Young Love." Of course, the band also calls to mind groups of subsequent generations that built on the hard rock sound of the late ‘60s, such as the Cult, the Black Crowes, Jet, and the White Stripes. So, anyone who likes that kind of music should overlook the implications of the record label and check out Rival Sons.
BIOGRAPHY
by Gregory Heaney
Based out of sunny Los Angeles, California, Rival Sons evoke the bluesy rock of bands like Led Zeppelin and the Black Crowes. Formed in 2008, the quartet of Scott Holiday (guitar), Robin Everhart (bass), Mike Miley (drums), and Jay Buchanan (vocals) captures that massively huge, guitar-driven classic rock sound, with rock-solid drumming and a riff-oriented approach to songwriting backing up Buchanan’s soaring vocals. Shortly after forming, the band self-released its debut, Before the Fire, in 2009. The quartet got some exposure when its song “Tell Me Something” was used in an ad campaign for Indy car racing, and the following year the band opened for some high-profile acts, including hard rock legends Alice Cooper and AC/DC. That same year, Rival Sons made the unlikely jump to extreme metal label Earache, who signed the band after coming across their music online. In 2011, the band released its follow-up album (and first physical release), Pressure & Time. The band stuck with the classic rock riffs and blues influenced sound on their third record Head Down that was released in 2012.
''PRESSURE & TIME''
JUNE 20 2011
30:49
1. All Over the Road /2:54
2. Young Love /3:00
3. Pressure and Time /3:16
4. Only One /3:11
5. Get Mine /2:23
6. Burn Down Los Angeles /2:25
7. Save Me /2:34
8. Gypsy Heart /3:29
9. White Noise /3:02
10. Face of Light /4:28
Scott Holiday/Guitar
Robin Everhart/Bass
Mike Miley/Drums
Jay Buchanan/Vocals
Arlan Shierbaum/Hammond B3, Wurlitzer
REVIEW
by William Ruhlmann
Earache Records is nominally a label devoted to death metal, but anyone who buys Rival Sons' Pressure & Time expecting an album in that style is likely to be disappointed, just as any rock fan who avoids it with the same expectation will be missing out. The Los Angeles quartet consisting of singer Jay Buchanan, guitarist Scott Holiday, bassist Robin Everhart, and drummer Mike Miley doesn't play death metal, though its music might be called early or pre-metal. Simply put, Rival Sons are a power trio plus singer in the traditional style, who might have made this album after listening to the first Led Zeppelin LP over and over for a day or two. Songs like the title track and "Gypsy Heart" find Buchanan wailing away in a piercing tenor reminiscent of Robert Plant, while Holiday plays Jimmy Page-like power chords, and even the closing power ballad "Face of Light" is a Zeppelin-esque change of pace. Rival Sons do exhibit some other influences on Pressure & Time (which is their first album for a proper record label following the self-released full-length Before the Fire and an EP called Rival Sons). "All Over the Road," for example, calls to mind Deep Purple's early days (the days of "Hush," not "Smoke on the Water"), while Buchanan, despite singing in a higher register, demonstrates an Eric Burdon-like swagger on "Young Love." Of course, the band also calls to mind groups of subsequent generations that built on the hard rock sound of the late ‘60s, such as the Cult, the Black Crowes, Jet, and the White Stripes. So, anyone who likes that kind of music should overlook the implications of the record label and check out Rival Sons.
BIOGRAPHY
by Gregory Heaney
Based out of sunny Los Angeles, California, Rival Sons evoke the bluesy rock of bands like Led Zeppelin and the Black Crowes. Formed in 2008, the quartet of Scott Holiday (guitar), Robin Everhart (bass), Mike Miley (drums), and Jay Buchanan (vocals) captures that massively huge, guitar-driven classic rock sound, with rock-solid drumming and a riff-oriented approach to songwriting backing up Buchanan’s soaring vocals. Shortly after forming, the band self-released its debut, Before the Fire, in 2009. The quartet got some exposure when its song “Tell Me Something” was used in an ad campaign for Indy car racing, and the following year the band opened for some high-profile acts, including hard rock legends Alice Cooper and AC/DC. That same year, Rival Sons made the unlikely jump to extreme metal label Earache, who signed the band after coming across their music online. In 2011, the band released its follow-up album (and first physical release), Pressure & Time. The band stuck with the classic rock riffs and blues influenced sound on their third record Head Down that was released in 2012.
