Not very much of the line-up at this year’s High Voltage Festival could be described as undiscovered talent. But one very pleasant surprise on the Sunday afternoon was the performance of Gentlemans Pistols. The Yorkshire band stormed onto the Metal Hammer Stage and delivered a set of great energy and good-natured goofiness, sounding like a combination of Led Zeppelin, The Darkness and Clutch, and looking like a combination of Biffy Clyro and Soft Machine.
Much of the set featured material from their newly released 'At Her Majesty’s Pleasure' album, a pretty good effort and the follow up to their self-titled debut. There’s one quality however that doesn’t easily translate to record and that’s swagger - which is unfortunate since this is easily their strongest suit.
Sometimes that swagger maybe goes a bit too far, and I like to think that song titles such as 'Some Girls Just Don’t Know Whats Good For Them' are a touch ironic, but there’s no denying the tremendous enthusiasm with which they attack the material.
Gentlemans Pistols are part of the current wave of bands – along with The Black Angels, Lords Of Altamont, The Mooney Suzuki, Black Mountain and many others - openly referencing their 70’s influences. Twin lead guitars, staccato rhythms, openly sexual imagery, stripped down production and yes, swagger are all present. They could just surf this wave quite far – I suggest you catch them on a beach near you sometime soon.
STREAM: GENTLEMANS PISTOLS - Sherman Tank
For more music and updates on the band, head to Facebook.
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