Blackbird Angels – Solsorte
Blackbird Angels – Solsorte
Frontiers Music s.r.l.
Release Date: 09/09/23
Running Time: 46:52
Review by Simon Black
8.5/10
No, I didn’t know what a “Solsorte” was either, but the name means ‘black sun’ in Danish apparently. The band however, is a new project from Tracii Guns (L.A. Guns and half of the name of a particularly notable Rock ‘n’ Roll stadium act) and Todd Kearns, who is best known as one of the mainstays in Slash’s solo project, with drums and production duties being handled by fellow L.A. Guns contributor Adam Hamilton. Now, to be honest, I struggle with the fact that there are two distinct versions of L.A. Guns doing the rounds, so the fact that there’s a completely new project in play is quite refreshing, not the least from the fact that they intend to tour this outfit as a five piece. And it’s a serious piece of work to boot.
As you would expect from the pedigree of the contributors, good old fashioned Hard Rock is the order of the day, but the tone is more British Invasion than the US Sleaze sound that Guns is best known for. Consequently, the songs are a fairly eclectic mix. Starting life as a lockdown project, but only now seeing the light of day, this doesn’t feel like a remote recording project. The playing is fluid and interweaved beautifully, so if you now tell me that they cut this without being in the same room then I would not believe you. For every straight groovin’ rocker (and there are plenty of such bangers on here), there’s something more evocative of the 70’s, such as ‘On And On, Over And Over’, which with its Zepellinesque ‘Babe I’m Gonna Leave You’ jam vibe is so rich and fluid that it feels almost improvised before taking itself into heavier territory, but you get the drift – it’s an homage to the 70’s influences of the bands’ they’re best known for, and it works really well.
Tracii Guns is always a reliable and beautifully fluid player and a hugely credible song writer, but Kerns works brilliantly as a front man, with a voice that has range, power and charisma aplenty, that is perhaps a little bit wasted as only a backing voice for Slash, and he really gets the chance to shine forth here. But it’s that Rock ‘N’ Roll chemistry between these three that shines through loudest of all, and this feels like a band with legs rather than a one-off collaborative project from the Frontiers stable. Frankly, even though in my far from humble opinion the Guns / Lewis incarnation of L.A. Guns is still the stronger, this project blows the socks off of anything either variant has produced in recent years.
‘Shut Up (You Know I Love You)’ Official Video
TRACKLISTING:
01. Shut Up (You Know I Love You)
02. Mine (All Mine)
03. Worth the Wait
04. Coming In Hot
05. On and On, Over and Over
06. Only Everything
07. Broken In Two
08. Better Than This
09. Unbroken
10. The Last Song
11. Scream Bloody Murder
LINE-UP:
Tracii Guns – Guitars
Todd Kerns – Vocals & Bass
Adam Hamilton – Drums
LINKS:
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