There are three types of bands. Those who copy, those who invent, and then there is Gentlemans Pistols.
Hailing from Leeds, this quartet of pure essential rock amps up for the release of their second album, At Her Majesty’s Pleasure, with more rock than England has produced for decades.
Each track propels itself forward with the style and grace of pure heavy metal in a fashion laid before them by the likes of hard rock demigods Deep Purple. Gentlemans Pistols’ modern-vintage hard rock feel amazingly encapsulates a nostalgic vibe intertwined with an original, new experience.
Song after song this LP is a solid fixture for 2011. Immediately blowing up on the opening track “Living In Sin Again” you’re elevated into the stratosphere of great lyrics and perfectly distorted rock. The anthem like “Comfortably Crazy” holds on to all that is rock as it perfects the marching guitar riff and body rocking style dominated by these four. As it breaks down into a rock-your-face guitar and crash cymbal injected mid-track instrumental, you’re struck with the feeling of how could this possibly get any better?
Allow me to introduce you to the soon to be rock epic “Midnight Crawler.” You’re injected with the dark heavy guitar riffs, all that is rock drums, and by far the most awesome bass led solo I’ve heard in a long time. I can’t help but feel that Randy Rhodes has truly possessed Bill Steer with his throwback style and grindcore base.
Finding the ability to mix the spectacular, never just background, bass of Douglas McLaughlan and the solid drumming of Stuart Dobbins, At Her Majesty’s Pleasure summons the perfect balance of yesteryear rock and melts its face off with nothing short of shredding solos and perfect vocals.
This is not a replication of anything you think you’ve heard before, nor is it an attempt at reinvention. This is Gentlemans Pistols. And you need them.