Recently it seems like I’ve reviewed more EP’s than I have for years. Tremendous news, because I love the format and can always get nostalgic for the glory days of the CD single (the amount of EP’s I own by bands like The Wildhearts and Silver Sun is probably a testament to when that heyday was).
This release from Broken Witt Rebels is more apt than usual for that type of misty-eyed stuff, though. Because back in the day when record shops existed and were staffed by people who a) gave a shit about music and b) gave a shit about their customers, BWR are exactly the type of band that the bloke behind the counter would say: “here, And, I’ve got something you might like from a local band….” when I went in on my lunch break.
In the case of “Snake Eyes” that is an even greater truism, given that beyond reminding people they still exist – and the fact they’d got the two unreleased songs to put somewhere, perhaps? – there is little actual reason for it, which is just how it used to be; the music was its own reward on these things.
The first pair – “Snake Eyes” and “Wait For You” – were two of the four new ones that made it onto what amounted to a compilation of their early stuff, which was repackaged as a debut album last year. They are just as good now as then. The former is what Rival Sons would be if they hadn’t gone mystical – and consequently a bit crap – a few years ago, while the latter (and let’s be honest about this) is a Brummie Kings Of Leon.
Must of the interest consequently revolves around the other half. “Bang Bang” is an example of that fuzzy, laid back thing they do, where Danny Core’s voice sounds as authentically blues as Robert Johnson’s guitar case, and the three minutes of “Turn Me On” is brilliantly soulful and perfectly timeless.
Both of them are exactly the reason just about anyone who has ever seen the band live comes away thinking they’ve seen something special who will be huge.
BWR are doing it their way, but they’re doing it. Someday in the next five years they’ll sell out somewhere massive and someone will say – much like they did with obvious contemporaries The Temperance Movement – that BWR are overnight sensations.
This is for those who know the whole truth, but also another stop on that journey.
Rating 8/10
SNAKE EYES EP IS RELEASED VIA SNAKEFARM ON 10TH AUGUST
