Very rarely do bands like Rival Sons come along anymore. The combination of blues and rock is far from an uncommon pairing, but the raw, in-your-face nature with which Rival Sons takes on the genre is something to behold.
Every instrumentalist in Rival Sons is a master of their craft, and with pounding drums, groovy bass lines, and big, fuzzy guitars it's not difficult to see why Black Sabbath took them out on tour during Sabbath's final run of shows. The sound of adrenaline-fueled blues rock is further driven home by Jay Buchanan's tremendous vocals, which I'm pretty certain would echo throughout any concert hall with little to no amplification.
There are so many great songs in Rival Sons' expansive catalog (their fifth LP, Hollow Bones, released today), but the straightforward rock song that I can always come back to is "Pocketful of Stones" off of their debut album, Before the Fire. However, that's not to say that the band hasn't put out great music in the time since that 2009 release. In fact, with big rockers like "Electric Man" and smoother, mid-tempo tracks like "Good Things," I would argue that Rival Sons' 2014 album, Great Western Valkyrie is among the strongest in their discography. I also really like what I've heard of Hollow Bones, with the title track ranking high on my list of favorite Rival Sons songs.
Check out "Pocketful of Stones" below.
Artist: Rival Sons
Album: Before the Fire
Release: June 9, 2009
Previous Friday Rock Recs
- June 3, 2016 – Dorothy - "After Midnight"
- May 27, 2016 – Charm City Devils - "10,000 Miles"
- May 20, 2016 – Heaven's Basement - "Can't Let Go"
- May 13, 2016 – Royal Blood - "Little Monster"