Here’s
rock and roll like it used to be – ageless, timeless, and ready to count off
again.
The
Strypes are a quartet from Ireland, all just 15 to 17 years old, running on
pure raging teen energy, Ray-Bans, and Clearasil. And they play wailing,
howling, and strutting R&B with raw force. Yes, this is a boy band, but in
age only, not inclination; it ain’t NKOTBSB, Justin Bieber, or One Direction.
The Strypes’ music goes in both directions at once – rhythm and blues. They
actually play and write it themselves, and their sound is as vibrant and
powerful as if it was ricocheting out of the Cavern or Marquee clubs.
Listening
to their debut U.S. EP, Blue Collar Jane, one thing’s clear – the inspiration
of Howlin’ Wolf and Bo Diddley, maybe the Zombies and the Monks, for sure
Doctor Feelgood and Dave Edmunds. But, they’re also fans of modern, retro-fuelled
rock including White Stripes and the Black Keys, and their sartorial sense is
pure old-school R&B. It includes three hard-driving originals capped by a
ferocious version of Nick Lowe’s “Heart Of The City.” The title track is an old
fashioned homage to a working-class girl, with requisite spelling-bee chorus.
Singer Ross Farrelly’s vocals are tough and wise beyond his years (of course).
The song swells into an out-of-control solo pitting overdriven guitar against
blues-wailing harmonica. Guitarist Josh McClorey is baby-faced and mop-topped,
yet with astonishingly good vintage chops; rest assured, he knows his
double-stop licks and how to use them, and makes his sound on all the right
guitars – Teles, Strats, Firebirds, ES-335s.
The
Strypes have a debut album in England, but we’ll have to hold patient through
the summer for it to arrive stateside.
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