Rival Sons – Head Down (2012)

It takes a degree of skill to make music that ticks all the classic rock boxes without sounding like a shameless exercise in nostalgia, but despite impeccable retro credentials Rival Sons are doggedly establishing themselves as a vital force for the modern age, too.

A more adventurous beast than last year’s Pressure and Time, the Californians’ third album is a riotous carnival of Zep-saluting riffs, sunkissed psychedelia and irresistible hooks, with the band’s soul, funk and blues influences thrust joyously to the fore. Vocalist Jay Buchanan is a revelation: cocksure and sassy on the anthemic opener Keep on Swinging and the lascivious clatter of You Want To and achingly vulnerable on the languorous Jordan, he is a mesmerising presence throughout. The perfect soundtrack for the summer we never had, everything from loose-limbed rumblers such as All the Way and the Monkees-plus-peyote stomp of Wild Animal through to the sublime two-part fever dream of Manifest Destiny throbs with analogue warmth and a near-chewable sense of celebration. If you thrilled to the Black Keys’ El Camino, it’s time to meet your new favourite band.

01. Keep On Swinging 3:59
02. Wild Animal 3:27
03. You Want To 4:15
04. Until The Sun Comes 2:58
05. Run From Revelation 4:14
06. Jordan 6:18
07. All The War 5:10
08. The Heist 3:13
09. Three Fingers 3:17
10. Nava 2:01
11. Manifest Destiny (Pt. 1) 8:20
12. Manifest Destiny (Pt. 2) 4:24
13. True 4:45

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