Nightfly Rival Sons return with their fifth album Hollow Bones after a mere 2 years, quite fast by today’s standards as long gone are the days (70’s) when you could rely on a band releasing a new album every year. I’d read somewhere that the band were diversifying their sound for this one but to be honest whilst it’s a very good album it seems pretty much business as usual.

Anyone familiar with Rival Sons will know what to expect – retro bluesy hard rock, immediately recognisable by Jay Buchanan’s soulful vocals very much in the tradition of the great seventies vocalists like Robert Plant and Steve Marriott. Apparently they allowed themselves only 30 days to write and record the album but it doesn’t show as it’s very mature sounding and song quality doesn’t suffer. Mike Miley is a drummer very much in the John Bonham tradition playing with the requisite power and groove but having the subtlety for the light and shade parts when needed. Over the last few albums the Zeppelin influences have become less apparent though still appearing at times. They cover Humble Pie’s Black Coffee, impressive enough but to be honest their own songs are better as it waffles about a bit. One of the best songs is the almost seven minute Hollow Bones Pt 2, a song full of dynamics and tension with some fine playing from guitarist Scott Holiday His tone is less fuzzy for the most part than the last couple of albums and better for it though he hasn’t abandoned it completely on Hollow Bones Pt 1. The albums first half features the shorter more immediate songs, though not necessarily the best, though hooks like Baby Boy are pretty insistent and hard to get out of your head.

None of Rival Sons albums since Pressure and Time have quite matched it for power, groove and swagger despite showing some maturity in the song writing department. Nevertheless, it’s another impressive release that can sit head and shoulders alongside the rest of their back catalogue.

Stephen I discovered RIVAL SONS through Amazon when I'm looking for a young band that played some good ol' classic rock just like WOLFMOTHER and THE ANSWER, and my first impression, this band's good although 'Pressure & Time' surely loaded with some weak tunes. Basically, they're like a blend of LED ZEPPELIN and BLACK STONE CHERRY, so that's a smart mix of 70s feel and a little stoner touch.

'All Over The Road' is an incredible opener. I can sense the roaring riffs in the veins of Zeppelin and also a modern feel that reminds me to THE DARKNESS. The next great track is the slow piece of 'Only One' and 'Face of Light'. The production was meant to be dated so fans can hear the vintage sound. 'Young Love', 'Get Mine', and 'Gypsy Heart' are pretty good track but I must admit, I don't really like 'Pressure and Time', 'Burn Down Los Angeles', 'Save Me', and 'White Noise'.

Another complain is the song felt way too short, many are clocking below 3 minutes mark, and with half of this album are maybe right or below 7/10, I don't see how this album can get past a final score of 70%. Rumor has it thought that the new album is much better than this, I'm about to listen to it and see if there's a significant improvement. This is an okay album, and probably some hardcore Zeppelin fans will dig this better than me.