Formed in 2013, it did not take long for this Bristol quartet to come to the attention of Chris Goss (Kyuss, Queens Of The Stone Age, The Cult) who produced their debut EP, and they were soon picked up by Nuclear Blast and made a reputation for themselves by supporting multiple bands on tour. April 2016 saw the release of this their debut, featuring Alex Veale (vocals, guitar), JP Jacyshyn (guitar, BVs), Antonio Angotti (bass, BVs), and Jack Taylor (drums, BVs). These 12 tracks could never have been recorded by an American band, as this is British to the core, looking back into the Sixties for influences such as Rolling Stones and into the Seventies for Moot The Hoople (in particular) and Bad Company.

Listen to the opening riff of “Animals” and the only conversation to have, is have they been influenced on this one by the Stones or The Kinks? They are producing melodic hard rock which may have some underlying stoner influences but that is more in the distortion on the guitars than any move into that genre, and one starts to think of the likes of Humble Pie and possibly Taste. This is music that has the blues as its heart and then mixes that with pop melodies to create something which is a load of fun from the off and it just gets better the longer it is on the player. It is an album which cries out to be played on vinyl back in the day when listening to music is what we did, as opposed to playing it in the background when we were doing something else. Given neither their website or Facebook page have been updated in four years I guess they are no more, but for anyone into powering classic rock with great melodies then this is a debut album to enjoy.

Rating: 9/10

Links:
https://www.taxtheheat.com/
https://www.nuclearblast.com/