Review Summary: A well-crafted album by Gentleman’s Pistols who are very much holding their own in the modern day retro scene.
The English quartet from Leeds, UK, finally released their third album after
Gentleman’s Pistols (2007) and the critically acclaimed
At Her Majesty’s Pleasure (2011). The latter was definitely one of the hard rock revelations of 2011 and kept most of us awaiting their new release and more importantly whether the band will manage to deliver another bombastic record. Their self-titled 2007 debut captured the rawness of classic garage rock; passionate and in your face. Following up with
At Her Majesty’s Pleasure, guitarist Bill Steer (ex-Firebird/Napalm Death and Carcass) was added in the band’s line up and they produced their best record to date. Tighter instrumentation, better and enhanced production values along with a more noticeable vocal identity. Then after a long-awaited four years (although to be fair some of the band members were/are involved in other projects as well), they’ve come up with the goods again.
James Atkinson (vocalist/guitarist, who by the way recorded the album) said: ‘’
Hustler’s Row is a cathartic journey through the last five years of my life. The album begins with questions of where my life is going and ends with me heading straight down ‘Hustler’s Row’; on a turbulent voyage of the sweetest sufferings and the most inexpensive thrills.’’ Well, I don’t know about that James but I certainly expected a few more thrills from this one, as
At Her Majesty’s Pleasure (2011) led me to expect.
The opener ‘’The Searcher’’ bursts with energy but this dynamic flow will somewhat deteriorate as the album plays through. Up next is a groovy blues-rock piece, ‘’Devil’s Advocate on Call’’ with very nice leads. ‘’Time Wasters’’ is a fast tempo rocker with a purposeful solo and nice duet-guitar work; there are some great twin lead lines that revive the ghost of Thin Lizzy. This is also (although less) apparent in ‘’Private Rendezvous’’ where Steer again does a very good job with the leads. Other influences of the band are present throughout ‘’Stress and Confusion’’ with a Led Zeppelin-like slow riff and on ‘’Personal Fantasy Wonderland’’. The latter runs through a series of riffs reminiscent of the early wave of NWOBHM, although the chord progression sounds a bit similar to the previous track, albeit with a different tempo; this song actually goes through a range of tempos and riffs which I quite enjoyed. ‘’Lady Teaser’’ and ‘’Coz of You’’ are also worth noting from the rest of the album.
Although I didn’t enjoy
Hustler’s Row as much as I did their previous release, the Pistols’ music is in a sense fundamental. It is rock n’ roll at its core, the classic rock kind just made a little bit heavier with chunkier riffs and powerful dynamic solos (if and when these solos appear because frankly they aren’t exactly plentiful). By doing this they did not sacrifice melody or harmony whether by riffs or vocal arrangement. Regarding the latter though, the vocals on this album sound a bit tamed – I much preferred Atkinson’s more attacking vocals on
At Her Majesty’s Pleasure. Another thing that came to my attention while listening to this was a similarity between a couple songs, a similar interchange of chords and riffs which I found a tad disappointing having such high expectations from them (listen to the start of the trio of songs ‘’Stress and Confusion’’, ‘’Personal Fantasy Wonderland’’ and ‘’Lady Teaser’’).
Nevertheless Gentleman’s Pistols’
Hustler’s Row is a solid melodic hard rock release with a strong 70’s classic rock vibe and I would definitely recommend it to the fans of the genre. Oh, and the artwork on this is pretty amazing. Hell, get all three of their albums and you won’t be disappointed. I just hope it won’t take them another 4-5 years for their next one.
