Having been inundated with indie and electronica for a while I’d almost forgotten that the last 20 years has seen an endless conveyor belt of blues-based rock acts citing ‘the greats’ as their influences, and of course, at least half of them promise a contemporary twist of sorts.
Slinging out ‘Hell’s Whiskey’ UK rock act Gallows Circus (who are, apparently highly rated) are typical, informing us that ‘their influences are myriad; from the power of Zeppelin through the melodic genius of Thin Lizzy, onto the modern blues-rock of Rival Sons and the hard edge of Soundgarden’ which gives them ‘a sound all of their own’. Of course it does. No-one’s ever going to say they sound like a derivative amalgamation of all of the aforementioned acts everyone’s been ripping off for decades, are they?
‘Hell’s Whiskey’, the first taste of the band’s upcoming second EP (due September 2020), is strong on melody and has some decent riffwork underpinned by a chunky rhythm section.