Sounds of the American south, from a Canadian band…….

The Bros. Landreth are a 4 piece band based in Winnipeg and have released their debut album only in their native Canada only currently. In a scoop for MusicMuso – we managed to get our hands on a copy prior to its worldwide release in January.

The album opens with “Our Love” – and it’s a brilliant opening song. There’s a cracking groove before lead singer Joey Landreth’s smooth voice enters the fray.  A superb guitar solo (accompanied by some Hammond organ) appears after the first verse/chorus. This is an absolutely fantastic song – a contender for my favourite this year.

“Firecracker” is next and is a more mellow affair involving the use of either “hot rocks” or brushes instead of drum sticks. It’s another decent song and already I’m beginning to sense the influence of the likes of The Crowes (both of the Counting and Black variety) and keeping it ornithological, The Eagles – none of which is a bad thing in my book.

“Let It Lie” opens with just an acoustic guitar and vocals and is another decent slab of Americana – I can imagine myself driving down a highway through the desert, hair flowing (well in my case the breeze running cooling my skin) listening to this album.

“I Am The Fool” is a more upbeat song and again the groove is there amongst some decent harmonica and another great guitar solo. “Made Up Mind” follows and at the risk of repeating myself, has another great groove – you kind of get the picture now – currently I’m loving this album.

“Greenhouse” opens with an atmospheric piano and is generally another fairly laid back piece but seems to float by without making too much of an impression. “Tappin’ On The Glass” features a soaring chorus with some lovely harmonies to back it up and is another mid-tempo song that gets your foot tapping. “Runaway Train” features a guest vocalist in the form of their musician father, Wally Landreth and is perfectly serviceable without being a standout song.

“Nothing” is a ballad that relies on the strength of the vocals and harmonies. There’s plenty of Hammond organ on it, which is always a welcome thing. Next is “Going To The Country” which is a blues rocker, definitely in the vein of The Black Crowes and the start of a stronger end to the album. The album closes with “Where Were We?” which is a cracking ballad and features some female vocals. 

This album struck me as the proverbial “game of two halves” – it opens really strongly and draws you in – the first 5 tracks are really good with the opener “Our Love” being the pick of the bunch but I felt that the catchiness of the songs tend to drop away towards the latter end of the album, almost like the band ran out of steam. Let It Lie is an album definitely rooted in southern USA and is the sort of album that would sound better listening to it on a sunny day in say, California, than a grey day in England but this is a very promising debut and The Bros. Landreth are definitely a band worth investigating and keeping an eye on for the future.

Review by Adrian Grainger