Rock an’ freakin’ Roll.
When The Commoners put their minds to it, that’s what they deliver, and with bells on. Sure, they make noises about being influenced by Southern rock, but I’m pleased to say that for the most part the Canadian quintet have a distinct sound of their own – and it’s pretty damn good.
Take the opening couple of tracks here, ‘Devil Teasin’ Me’ and ‘Shake You Off’. The first rides in on a tumbling riff and pummelling bass, to which lead singer and rhythm guitarist Chris Medhurst adds an emphatic vocal, reinforced by resonant backing vox. Their command of dynamics is
good too, emphasised by the downshift into a tense bridge. Then ‘Shake You Off’ raises the stakes even higher with an irresistible two-part riff and a crunching delivery driven along by explosive drums from Adam Cannon (yes, really). Medhurst’s vocal is again convincingly urgent, and Ross Hayes Citrullo adds a scorching solo that really deserves to be longer. But hell, when they’re done the track finishes with a BLAM that is thoroughly satisfying.
The title track shows some variety, opening with acoustic strumming embellished with a piercing guitar line, while Medhurst offers a gentler vocal. But by the time Citrullo launches into a sweeping slide solo, punctuated by punchy drum combinations, they’ve roused themselves into impassioned mode.
Citrullo reaches for his slide again later, on ‘Body And Soul’, and it soon becomes clear that ‘Restless’ was just laying down a marker for what they’re capable of. A slower, more sultry animal, it’s given real atmosphere by Citrullo’s woozy, epic-leaning slide playing, along with the irregular pulse of Ben Spiller’s bass and Cannon’s pounding drums, while Medhurst’s vocal gets all steamed up and shifts in rhythm keep you on the hook. It all adds up to an impressive display of light and shade.
A couple of tracks do show off their Southern influences. The reflective, elegiac ‘See You Again’ carries echoes of the Black Crowes talking to angels, but still works out well as it picks up a bit around the swirls of organ from Miles Evans-Branagh and an ear-catching ascending bridge. And the mellow, mid-paced ‘Too Soon To Know You’ also shows some Southern leanings, with good guitar lines from Citrulllo and subtle drumming from Cannon in its latter segment, though for my money it’s overlong, even if it does get more energised towards the end.
But they get my juices flowing more readily with the likes of ‘Gone Without Warning’, all ringing guitars and pedal-to-the-metal rhythm section, while Medhurst’s vocal gets good and percussive at times. Pity they slow down for the chorus, to my mind, but they make up for it when Citrullo’s solo goes into overdrive. And they follow that up with ‘Who Are You’, all tub-thumping drums and knuckle-dusting guitar chords. They rope in backing vocal cavalry to support Medhurst as he leads from the front in shakin’ an’ shiverin’ fashion, and Evans-Branagh adds more vivid colour with jangling piano and stabs and flurries of organ. It’s a song that underlines their total conviction.
Speaking of conviction, they make the brave call of closing the album with the dying fall of ‘All That We Have’. It’s a patient, sensitive tune, relying on just gentle acoustic guitar and low-key vocals – without any hokey Southern intonations, by the by – and it makes for a compelling arrivederci.
My advice to The Commoners is this. Never mind aspiring to be some kinda next big Southern rock thing. Just be your authentic selves, because on the strength of Restless that’s plenty good enough. Rock an’ freakin’ roll, fellas.
Restless is out now on Gypsy Soul Records, and can be ordered here.
When The Commoners put their minds to it, that’s what they deliver, and with bells on. Sure, they make noises about being influenced by Southern rock, but I’m pleased to say that for the most part the Canadian quintet have a distinct sound of their own – and it’s pretty damn good.
Take the opening couple of tracks here, ‘Devil Teasin’ Me’ and ‘Shake You Off’. The first rides in on a tumbling riff and pummelling bass, to which lead singer and rhythm guitarist Chris Medhurst adds an emphatic vocal, reinforced by resonant backing vox. Their command of dynamics is
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| The Commoners - the glamour of being on the road in, er, Camden Pic by Rob Blackham |
The title track shows some variety, opening with acoustic strumming embellished with a piercing guitar line, while Medhurst offers a gentler vocal. But by the time Citrullo launches into a sweeping slide solo, punctuated by punchy drum combinations, they’ve roused themselves into impassioned mode.
Citrullo reaches for his slide again later, on ‘Body And Soul’, and it soon becomes clear that ‘Restless’ was just laying down a marker for what they’re capable of. A slower, more sultry animal, it’s given real atmosphere by Citrullo’s woozy, epic-leaning slide playing, along with the irregular pulse of Ben Spiller’s bass and Cannon’s pounding drums, while Medhurst’s vocal gets all steamed up and shifts in rhythm keep you on the hook. It all adds up to an impressive display of light and shade.
A couple of tracks do show off their Southern influences. The reflective, elegiac ‘See You Again’ carries echoes of the Black Crowes talking to angels, but still works out well as it picks up a bit around the swirls of organ from Miles Evans-Branagh and an ear-catching ascending bridge. And the mellow, mid-paced ‘Too Soon To Know You’ also shows some Southern leanings, with good guitar lines from Citrulllo and subtle drumming from Cannon in its latter segment, though for my money it’s overlong, even if it does get more energised towards the end.
But they get my juices flowing more readily with the likes of ‘Gone Without Warning’, all ringing guitars and pedal-to-the-metal rhythm section, while Medhurst’s vocal gets good and percussive at times. Pity they slow down for the chorus, to my mind, but they make up for it when Citrullo’s solo goes into overdrive. And they follow that up with ‘Who Are You’, all tub-thumping drums and knuckle-dusting guitar chords. They rope in backing vocal cavalry to support Medhurst as he leads from the front in shakin’ an’ shiverin’ fashion, and Evans-Branagh adds more vivid colour with jangling piano and stabs and flurries of organ. It’s a song that underlines their total conviction.
Speaking of conviction, they make the brave call of closing the album with the dying fall of ‘All That We Have’. It’s a patient, sensitive tune, relying on just gentle acoustic guitar and low-key vocals – without any hokey Southern intonations, by the by – and it makes for a compelling arrivederci.
My advice to The Commoners is this. Never mind aspiring to be some kinda next big Southern rock thing. Just be your authentic selves, because on the strength of Restless that’s plenty good enough. Rock an’ freakin’ roll, fellas.
Restless is out now on Gypsy Soul Records, and can be ordered here.
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