The Rainbreakers

Rise Up EP

(Independent)

Electric roots music from a Shrewsbury quartet. With five cuts produced by Robin Andrews. Personnel are Ben Edwards, guitar & vocal, Charlie Richards guitar, Peter Adams bass plus Sam Edwards on drums. Claimed influences include blues, rock, pop and soul which sounds OK to me – much scope therein. The theme of the tracks seems to be self-improvement and realising potential. They have performed live since 2014 so have had a while to channel their efforts into their own sound.

On to the EP content….

On My Own bursts into life with waves of wah’d guitar before an earnest vocal starts the sombre verse. A relationship is crashing, set to an almost hiphop beat and raggedy rhythm guitar. It’s the type of song that will surely take on a life and dynamic of its own in performance. The guitar solo is snaky and assured, light on fuzz and high on sustain.

Quite a classy opening cut Rise Up has stealthy chug of an intro and you almost expect Donald Fagen to start singing. It’s one of those assertive vibe pieces we were promised. I like the way they don’t clutter the songs, they keep the parts separate but interlocking. The tunes have more impact this way. There is a hint of Terry Reid about this one and the heavier passages are like a darkening cloud, ominous and reverbed just so.

Waiting On You is Tony Joe White style soft, amp tremelo on the guitar. Subtlety seems to be one of their aces, no hurry just let the chords ring. Maybe the best vocal on the set, here. Gentle wah works well ; Perception sounds confident and chin out with a slightly choppy beat, again the lead guitar is used to 3-d the sound once the song is under way and a touch of dub treatment just adds to the tune’s shape.

Living Free lets the drums set a firm tempo and sounds like a set closer with room for naming band members. An echo of Whitesnake in the delivery on this one, underlined by the meaty riffing.

The overall sound of the record is a tad studio-bound but if the idea is to put down definitive versions of the songs for now and embellishment on stage later..well that is achieved and with some grace. It’s a neat set of songs, played well.

Pete Sargeant

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The Rainbreakers second EP 'Rise Up' is out now.

For information and performance dates, try www.therainbreakers.com

The Rainbreakers