I don’t know if I can speak for all of you out there on this memory of mine, but I remember once when I was a kid I was flipping through my father’s LP collection. His collection consisted mostly of late 60s and 70s bands, bands considered “classic rock” these days. Still new to the game called music, I had no idea who all these bands were and was ever so curious to familiarize myself with them.
I marveled at the pictures at first, some more than others thanks to scantily clad women gracing the covers, and soon was just playing record after record teaching myself what to like and what to disregard. There were gems that I found in those stacks of records that pretty much kick started my love for music. I bring up this story because I swear that the new Rival Sons album, Pressure & Time, that I just listened to easily could have been one of those records that I pulled out from the stack, listened to, and said “woah.”
Hailing from Los Angeles, Rival Sons are a modern day classic rock band, all talent and no gimmicks at all. The foursome has been around since 2008 and released their sophomore album Pressure & Time on Earache Records. At times the band sounds like a cross between classic rock like Led Zeppelin but also hints towards a modern White Stripes/Jack White feel. The collection of genres makes for a great sound that has been seemingly dismissed these days in the music world when it comes to new bands.
As soon as “All Over The Road” started, I found myself almost in shock to hear what I was listening to. “Pressure and Time” won me over after I listened to it. I adored the whole song start to finish. Just check out the video below and see if you agree. I can see the ladies already swooning over “Only One” once it hits their ears. Reminding me of a Black Crows song, it was a sly cut to listen to with nice keyboard and heavy bass guitar playing.
“Get Mine” was a straight up jam with an ever so addicting funky bass riff that was met up some classic guitar playing. “Burn Down Los Angeles” was just bad ass. The drumming, the bass, the guitars, and the signing all together kept your head rocking and toughened up your skin. “Save Me” had a fun start with a little classic guitar and bass exchange and then was smothered with a nice helping of soul. Throughout it reminded me of a Sweet song, not like “dude, it was sweet”, but like the band Sweet…never mind. (additionally this song has been featured on a Jeremiah Weed commercial). The lighter flicking, body swaying, arena destined “Face Of Light” closed out the album.
Pressure & Time seemed to just breeze past me while listening to. At 30-minutes, I really would have loved to heard more, a lot more. I really was not expecting Rival Sons to sound the way they did. I was told that they “rocked” but that is an understatement. This band must have gone back in time and hung out with the legends to sound this great. The lead singer looks like the lovechild of Jim Morrison and sounds like Jack White as well as Robert Plant. The band dresses to impress and supposedly puts on some of the best like shows (still yet to be determined by this guy). Apparently they have shared the stage with bands like Kiss and Judas Priest already in their short career. Not too shabby boys.
If you like your rock classic and have been looking for something new to check out and just sink your teeth into, look no further. Rival Sons have arrived and I am pretty sure all the folk out there who rocked out in the 70s, perhaps even your parents, are going approve.
I am curious on this new band of his called 
