The new legends?
Some bands may try to wow the crowds with tricks, gimmicks and over-exuberance that detract the listener from the mundane sound of their actual music; The Local Legends are not one of these bands, having studied classic Rock and Rhythm & Blues with an insatiable appetite, and powering forward with a wonderful potent chemistry.
Musically the band are tighter than Steven Tyler's spandex, and at times guitarist Johnny Dark'o unleashes some fine guitar riffs that must surely have been lost somewhere between 1978 and 1991. Story Teller has such strong Blues/Rock licks that the vocals sound like an afterthought, and then in Rock'in Life we have AC/DC-esque music with vocals that sound a bit like Eddie Vedder. Hey Jack is another riff-led track that is a slice of catchy Hard Rock. The drums are wonderful and the vocals are slightly more gruff and whisky-soaked with feeling.
The fast and up tempo songs here are very good and pull the album together nicely. The opening track What is a slow plodder of a song, and I'm not sure it is a good choice as the first track, or as the first video. Slow melodic guitar ripples the notes in a musical wave, as the deep vocals from Ben sing over. It feels like it may build up to something, but never quite gets there. However, Lonely God as some nice deep elastic bass-lines from Luke, rolling drum beats and Jim Morrison-esque vocals that make you cock your ear even more carefully at the speakers. Then in How Could I the layered music that jumps from slow to mid tempo works well. With a catchy chorus, this could've been the lead-track on the album.
Wonder is a laid back track, thoughtful and precise before the head-nodder of Only Way which has the drumsticks of Jack-Ben tap-dance on the snare in a beat that is almost a march, and earthy-vocals that give the song a Folk-Rock n'Roll feel. Jackie has some big opening riffs before things slow down again for the verse, and just as you are mellowing out the tempo explodes into the chorus. The album finishes with an instrumental that whilst showcases Johnny's guitar work, I'm not sure what else it offers.
This isn't a band that are going to change the face of music with an unique style, but they are a band that play good old fashioned music in a very good way. The band's fast-paced songs bury the slow tracks, purely because there is so much energy to be had from the band, that it is almost a shame when the tempo drops. The slow songs are decent enough but I think that there is nothing wrong with just having a couple on the album. The Local Legends are not new, but they are very good. Legends in the making? We'll just have to wait and see...