’60’s psychedelia mixed with The Von Bondies and a hint of Social Distortion fronted by the current guitarist of Primal Scream? That’s Little Barrie for ya in a nutshell. On King Of The Waves, the band effortlessly mesh surf rock with the indie garage aesthetic to create and album that has roots in the past but steadily moves headfirst into the future.
Produced by Edwyn Collins (Yes, THAT Edwyn Collins) at his studio, Little Barrie’s third album travels to contemporary space rock territory a la Kasabian (“Dream To Live”) while giving nods to former greats like The Stone Roses (“Now We’re Nowhere”) or Ian Brown’s Solarized electro rock (“I Can’t Wait”) in a heartbeat.
Starting with a fuzzed out bang that would get all the mods moving, “Surf Hell” shimmies and sways with pure rawk fury. “How Come” leans back a little as Virgil Howe (Son of Yes’ Steve Howe) and Lewis Wharton lay down a sweet groove. KOTW really hits its’ stride in the middle as “Now We’re Nowhere”, handclaps and all, rears its’ mighty head. From there, it all goes uphill followed later by “Tip It Over” which continues the uphill battle as Cadogan’s guitar line just builds into a relentless solo at its’ peak.
As a bonus for US fans, the domestic release of King Of The Waves features two extra tracks bringing the awesome tally to 13 expertly executed tracks including an amped up version of the titled track, “KOTW-BC109”. Must have for your collection? Uh, yes!
King Of The Waves is out on February 28th. Check out the video for “Surf Hell” below and pre-order a copy here.
Grade: B