Kev Rowland 2016 saw the release of the second album from Blues Pills, their first with new drummer André Kvarnström. They also added quite a few guests to the album, with Mellotron, organ, piano and xylophone adding to their sound. In many ways, this is even more like the early Seventies, as the additional instrumentation brings it all together, and the sounds being deployed were so key to that time. Since the debut they had been touring, and there is a real confidence to the vocals especially, that only comes from playing together. They have brought together some singers to provide backing vocals this time, and when they are used they seem to lift Elin so that she is even more passionate, raw, and Janis-like.

They used the same cover artist as before, Marijke Koger-Dunham, who has worked in the past with groups like The Beatles and Cream – in fact, the original design was more than fifty years old! By also using the same producer, Don Alsterberg, there is a strong continuity in so many ways, with the sound yet again thick and strong – almost a physical force, yet the different keyboards and backing vocals show a band that are growing in so many ways. Of the two, I probably prefer the debut, just because that is a touch more raw and basic, and this is more polished and refined, but is still a damn fine listen.

This is real music, music with soul and heart, something that many record company execs wouldn’t recognise if it was handed to them on a platter, so all power to Nuclear Blast for recognising just how special this band is. Highly, highly recommended

Kev Rowland If you knew nothing about the band apart from the artwork of their debut album from 2014, then you might presume that it had come from some forty-five years earlier, and in many ways, you wouldn’t be wrong. This is blues rock, played with swagger and feeling, with a sound that is reminiscent of Free, Taste and so many other great bands from that period. In some ways one could argue that this is the closest that any band has come to revitalising Big Brother & The Holding Company and combining them with Stone The Crows. The band originally came together in 2011 when Zack Anderson (bass) and Cory Berry (drums), met singer Elin Larsson and after they had recorded some EPs they discovered guitarist Dorian Sorriaux and invited him to join. Dorian was just sixteen at the time, so he was still a teenager when this album was recorded, which is somewhat hard to fathom.

They can produce high octane blues rock, or as in the incredible “River”, mix it up and produce straight ahead blues where Elin shows that she can sing like Adele just as much as she can channel the spirit of Janis. The guitar sound is so big that one can just sit on the chords and ride them around the room, although there are also some classic Peter Green stylings to add that clarity and finesse. Zack and Cory have an important part to play, as they provide the backdrop for the other two to play with, and the result is one of the most impressive debuts you are ever likely to come across, no matter what the genre.

The guys can rock when they want to, but when they slow it down just a little they shine, and it is impossible to understand that the sounds are being created by people who have yet to hit their prime.