Wille & the Bandits – Paths
Wille & the Bandits - Paths
Release Date: Out Now
If Wille & the Bandits were a
restaurant they would serve soul-food in generous portions with a side order of
politics on the posters adorning the walls of what would probably be a drift-wood
shack with slightly wonky tables. The Cornish trio aren’t a restaurant,
however, they’re a band but that doesn’t mean they don’t still serve up a big
ol’ stack of soul food on new album ‘Paths’. The album gets underway with ‘One
Way’ amidst the blues twang of a distant guitar and then the rhythm section
kicks and we’re running hard – running with the kind of intensity of uncontrollable
legs and desperation. Quoting the likes of Mandela and Gandhi, Wille Edwards’
goes for the jugular with his rasping vocal and anti-fascist agenda. It’s a
strong start to proceedings.
Moving along, we get to ‘Make
Love’; a song with a deep groove, more than a nod to funk and the blues at its
heart as the lyrics urge us to “Not war, make love”. There’s a Rolling Stones
meets Springsteen vibe on ‘Victim of the Night’ as the band get all reflective
while ‘Four Million Days’ is a semi-ballad that builds from an acoustic opening
to US radio friendly chorus. Wille & the Bandits have more than a hint of
mysticism about them and there’s a big slice of that on ‘Chakra’ as the
drumming of Andrew Naumann takes centre stage on the kind of song that Chris Cornell
might be producing if he was still with us (and yes, the vocals really are that
good).
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| Wille & the Bandits |
The band reflect on life on the
road with ‘Keep it on the Down-Low’ featuring some gorgeous guitar work chugging
and sliding all over the place with an upbeat chorus that is impossible to resist.
On ‘Judgement Day’ the band take it back to the old-school with some satisfyingly
groove based blues showing just why these three are so highly revered on the
live blues circuit across the world. Things slow down on ‘How Long’ but there’s
no loss of power and punch as the three-piece slide effortlessly in to the mode
of rock gods. Probably my favourite track on the album is the intense and frenetic
rock behemoth that is ‘Find My Way’ which is driven by the bubbling bass
playing of Matt Brooks adding a real energy and fizz to a song that is charging
head first the wrong way down a highway.
That mysticism comes back on ‘Watch
You Grow’ with a guitar sound that brings the sitar to mind before the band
settle in to a groove that bubbles and bounces as Edwards sings of the changes
that fatherhood bring to a man – it’s more than a little touching. The album
closes out with ‘Retribution’, a near five-minute slice of Wild West rock blues
that would work brilliantly at the end of a movie as the hero walks in the
sunset leaving the bad guys in a burning pile of, well, retribution. And
gasoline. Wille & the Bandits are one of the hardest working bands around which
is fine in itself but they’re also three hugely talented musicians and three
friends who click perfectly when they get on stage or, in this case, in to the
studio. ‘Paths’ is a masterclass in the blues and what you can do with a genre
that is so often just reduced to twelve bars and a bottleneck. Now, who’s
hungry?
More information: https://www.facebook.com/willeandthebandits.official/
Live Dates:
9th February – The Old Bakery, Truro
15th February – Guildhall, Gloucester
6th March – Ropetackle Arts Centre,
Shoreham-by-Sea
7th March – Clwb Ifor Bach, Cardiff
8th March – The Junction, Plymouth
9th March – Thekla, Bristol
13th March – The Bodega, Nottingham
14th March – O2 Academy 2, Liverpool
15th March – O2 Academy, Sheffield
16th March – The Continental, Preston
17th March – Victoria Hall, Settle
19th March – Fibbers, York
20th March – The Hug and Pint, Glasgow
21st March – The Voodoo Rooms, Edinburgh
22nd March – O2 Academy, Newcastle Upon Tyne
24th March – The Junction, Cambridge
27th March – The Waterfront, Norwich
28th March – O2 Academy, Birmingham
29th March – O2 Academy 2, Oxford
30th March – O2 Academy Islington, London
5th April – Das Bett, Frankfurt
6th April – Lifehouse, Stemwede
7th April – Musikbunker-Aachen e.V., Ac
8th April – Kammerspiel, Ansbach
9th April – Kofferfabrik, Fu
10th April – Rattlesnake Saloon, Munchen
12th April – Reigen Live, Wien
24th April – Harmonie Bonn, Bn
25th April – Spirit of 66, Verviers
26th April – Pressen, Bad Salzungen
27th April – Speicher, Husum
4th May – Scheune, Wredenhagen
7th May – Noergelbuff, Gottingen
8th May – Museumskeller, Erfurt
9th May – Tonenburg GmbH, Hoxter
10th May – Speicher, Schwerin
11th May – Music Hall Worpswede, Worpswede
15th May – Tante JU, Dresden
16th May – Bergkeller, Reichenbach
17th May – Blues Garage, Iserhagen
18th May – Downtwon Bluesclub, Hamburg
19th May – Barnaby’s Blues Bar, Bs
21st May – Pitcher, Dusseldorf
22nd May – Spitalkeller, Offenburg
23rd May – Franz K, Reutlingen
29th May – Objekt 5, Halle
31st May – Muhle Hunziken, Rubigen