Review by Ritchie Birnie for MPM
The 70s musical revival is in full swing and young band Revenant throw their hats into the ring with the EP What a Time to be Alive and it is a cracker. To be honest for a band so young they should not be producing music this great but the group have some musical history so if you are fans of Blackberry Smoke, Black Crowes or Rival Sons check these boys out ASAP.
The EP opens with “Coming Back to Life” with a Black Stone Cherry swagger and we get to hear singer Sugarman Sam as he channels his inner Van Zant. The guitars hark to that Skynyrd era too and this is as Southern as it comes and the lyrics are pure Blues.
Next up is “Draw the lines” and this skates the thin ice of Country the way Blackberry Smoke have owned the sound but there is a rocky hook that keeps it safe and sound and it melds the two genres perfectly whilst almost doing a Hayseed Dixie or Outlaw Orchestra but to hell with all the name drops, this is as catchy as hell.
“The Healer” steps everything up a level and this was instantly my favourite track on the EP. The lazy, slow opening builds the song note by note, chord by chord and you get sucked in without a thought. This is superior songwriting. Once again the solos are perfect for the track and rounds the song out to perfection.
The tempo picks up again on “The Masquerade” and again the BSC sound is there with the crunchy guitars, perfect hooks and this could be the bands “Rain Wizard”. A cracking track.
“Rolling on my Back” takes a different tack, a slight Snow Patrol feel but if the song was more powerful and drowned in the Blues. This is a close second to The Healer for me. It has the slow build, it has the tension but it has a huge amount of ooomph. The repetitive guitar keeps the song moving and grooving and leaves us with a good time track to do nothing but love, a winner.
What a Time to be Alive is a statement EP, a solid collection of songs and one that instantly ticks the ones to watch box in your head. In the current climate there is no reason that this band cannot take off in a big way. This is an old school band and now they have a physical release it is time to go to the old school manual and tour their asses off and get the name Revenant out there.
https://www.instagram.com/rvnt.band/
https://www.facebook.com/revenantsongs
https://open.spotify.com/artist/6qBUhpDA9MFYKkd7rKt2uE
