New album from a kind of Glasgow version of The Kings of Leon? I don’t mean that the Gifted Kings sound similar to the American stadium-filling, chart-botherers, more that the bands members are all related, either as brothers or cousins. The band recorded their album at the legendary Rockfield Studios as used by a veritable who’s who of the music world. So – how does the family’s music sound, does it stand up alongside some of the great acts that have also used the studio?

Opener “Rains Will Come”, starts with an organ fading in before a sort of Cult (circa Electric) style riff kicks things off. It’s quite a hypnotic song and a cracking opener which doesn’t labour the point weighing in it at little over 3 minutes. It’s followed by “The Last Time” which has the sort of expansive riff that featured on the Stone Roses second album. The scant information that I’ve been able to find out about the band refers to them as “alternative rock” – a term I’ve never really understood, so if this is it – I’m definitely a fan. “No One Knows” is up next starting with acoustic guitar and vocal before veering off into an almost indie style. Again a slight hint of Stone Roses to these ears and possibly one of the less interesting tracks on offer here. Next up is “Drive” which is a suitable title for a driving rocker of a song. I can imagine barrelling down a motorway late one night with this blazing out of the car stereo. One of the tracks released as a single “Dead End Road” follows and is a bit 'ploddy' – I seem to have something against singles! However, top marks for the guitar solo, it’s great.

The album picks up again with “Tell Me Something” which rocks out and is a good showcase for Derek Murray’s soaring vocals. It would have been a better choice of single (for me) as the bands signature sound (great riffs and decent drumming – with a caveat, see later on in the review) are all on display here. “Fortune In The City” is another strong rocker with a riff that a certain Mr J Page would have been proud to have written. Another single – I would love to tell you which one was first but I can’t find that out – “Last Trace Of The Sun” follows and seems to be a better bet than “Dead End Road” so I hope that it was the first release. It’s a bit more of a straight forward pop-rock song but features a lovely chorus and is not a bad tune at all. There is an interesting instrumental break in the middle where the band have resisted the temptation to slip in a rock-god guitar solo and this part builds nicely to the last chorus. “Wait” accentuates the one problem that I have with this album – and it’s possibly the main criticism I have for the album – the drums are way too low in the mix when they should be driving this band along. It’s also a back handed compliment to say that despite my reservations about the quality of the mix, the songs aren’t too badly affected – more a case of “how good could this have been?” if it had been mixed properly.

The album finishes with its longest song (5 and a half minutes for those that are interested) – “Writing On The Wall”. It’s the one time that the band take their time on a song and it makes for a decent closer despite it not really signing off with a bang. It’s a bit of a case of slow and steady but despite that, the song has another great anthemic chorus. I’m not normally a fan of gimmicky sound effects but the end of this song really works.

Part of the appeal of The Gifted Kings is that their songs seem to be able to make their point without taking a long time about it. There are 11 songs on the album in total and they all have merits, which makes for a strong album rather than falling into the trap that a lot bands do, in giving you VFM, 3 or 4 of the 15 tracks they provide are just filler. Each one of these songs would be strong enough to stand on its own two feet. The band has made a nice little dish with a hint of The Cult, Led Zeppelin, Oasis, Stone Roses and AC/DC all in the molting pot together to make something that is definitely “The Gifted Kings”.

A bit of a criticism, which as you will see, seems a little harsh. I like to name the band where I can but their website doesn’t contain any information and looks as if it’s still under construction. There are the dreaded “Lorem Ipsum….” paragraphs everywhere. On the band bio page I can only see three members profiles (again “Lorem Ipsum” features rather than actual biographic details). I can only inform you that the band is Derek Murray on Vocals/Guitars and keys; Andy Murray – Guitars; Paul Smith – bass and an unnamed cousin on drums……… Maybe he was mixed down because they couldn’t fit him on to the web page??

Despite this criticism, I would strongly urge you to check these guys out, they have a future – if their management (I'm making an assumption that they aren’t doing the business side of things themselves) sort out their internet presence which in this day and age, is frankly not good enough and could hold the band back. This is a cracking album.

Download: The Last Time, Drive, Fortune In The City, Last Trace of The Sun.

★★★★

Words - Adrian Grainger