Shotgun House
Shotgun House describe themselves as ‘rocking music with powerful, passionate vocals and total musicianship appeal to rockers and blues fans everywhere’, which is a pretty bold statement! Going on to say that they deliver down and dirty heartfelt passionate rock, rhythm and blues, the band were good enough to put us on to their 5 track EP, Beautiful Obsession, to see what we thought of things. With the band comprising of Dominique Oliver (Lady D) on vocals, Keith Bayley on guitar, Stuart Wilkinson on bass, and Mikey Dean-Smith on drums, I was looking forward to hearing what this South East and London based 4 piece had come up with.
From the opening moments of Redemption Road it’s clear that we’re dealing with one funky beast of an EP here, the urgent guitar and bass combination mixing with the backing drums to form a sound which isn’t heavy, it’s just downright funky! Add into the mix some sultry and passionate vocals and the result is an opening track which will get your attention, get you listening and make you question why you’ve only just come across this band. What I really loved about this track was the bass line, it seems to add a sense of movement to things which in turn keeps the track moving, keeping you on board and letting you know that this isn’t music to throw down to, it’s music to have a damned good dance to. Title track Beautiful Obsession continues this idea, once again throwing you into a funky melee of blues orientated sounds and getting you moving. Funky, groovy – call it what you will, but the result is a sound which is going to renew that passion you once had for original and interesting music. Despite the funky edge to the track there’s also a serene laid back feeling to things, the track oozing with coolness as it progresses and making you just want to sit back and bear witness to what’s going on.
We Are Vampire seems to mark a change in approach as it opens, revealing an almost atmospheric sound to get things going before ushering in a soft and melodic guitar line. The emotional edge to this track is clear from the off, forming a sound which moves away from that dance inducing approach at first and this time, simply urges you to think about what’s going on. Offering you the chance to think about aspects of life throughout, this is a serious highpoint on the album, calling into question social issues without throwing them in your face and once again, setting a new standard for blues style rock. The contrasting approaches throughout this track elevate this to a new level, a new style if you will, a style which has combined blues with rock and than added in a new approach, resulting in a track which is going to impact heavily on all who hear it – in short, resulting in a great track! Putting those soft and thought provoking moments to a side as King Of Love comes in to being, once again we’re returned to the funky blues tinged world of the band and urged to get down and dance along. The vocals once again steal the show on this track, resulting in a sound which is going to pull you in, force you to listen and allow you to gradually fall in love with the voice of Lady D, once again offering up a track which you’ll return to time and time again.
Closing with When, I was expecting a massive crescendo to the EP, and it doesn’t appear. Once again returning us to the thought provoking moments of track 3, the soft closing moments of this track echo out across the melodic backing, resulting in one final track designed to get you thinking about life, love and loss. Despite the lack of ‘crescendo’, the closing moments of this EP do what they should, leaving you wanting more and with a sense of calm reflectiveness flowing through you. Sure, this is a chilled out track, but it’s full of emotion, power and questions which make you think, a great finish to a great EP.
Shotgun House aren’t what I was expecting when I went into this EP, which is probably a good thing as it meant I could listen 100% objectively and allow the music to do the talking for me. The sound they’ve gone for is laid back at times, upbeat at others, emotional at times but well written and put together throughout. The result is an EP which I know I’ll be coming back to time and time again, and one which a lot of people are going to enjoy.
To find out more about Shotgun House, check out their Facebook page HERE.
Words: Dave Nicholls
From the opening moments of Redemption Road it’s clear that we’re dealing with one funky beast of an EP here, the urgent guitar and bass combination mixing with the backing drums to form a sound which isn’t heavy, it’s just downright funky! Add into the mix some sultry and passionate vocals and the result is an opening track which will get your attention, get you listening and make you question why you’ve only just come across this band. What I really loved about this track was the bass line, it seems to add a sense of movement to things which in turn keeps the track moving, keeping you on board and letting you know that this isn’t music to throw down to, it’s music to have a damned good dance to. Title track Beautiful Obsession continues this idea, once again throwing you into a funky melee of blues orientated sounds and getting you moving. Funky, groovy – call it what you will, but the result is a sound which is going to renew that passion you once had for original and interesting music. Despite the funky edge to the track there’s also a serene laid back feeling to things, the track oozing with coolness as it progresses and making you just want to sit back and bear witness to what’s going on.
We Are Vampire seems to mark a change in approach as it opens, revealing an almost atmospheric sound to get things going before ushering in a soft and melodic guitar line. The emotional edge to this track is clear from the off, forming a sound which moves away from that dance inducing approach at first and this time, simply urges you to think about what’s going on. Offering you the chance to think about aspects of life throughout, this is a serious highpoint on the album, calling into question social issues without throwing them in your face and once again, setting a new standard for blues style rock. The contrasting approaches throughout this track elevate this to a new level, a new style if you will, a style which has combined blues with rock and than added in a new approach, resulting in a track which is going to impact heavily on all who hear it – in short, resulting in a great track! Putting those soft and thought provoking moments to a side as King Of Love comes in to being, once again we’re returned to the funky blues tinged world of the band and urged to get down and dance along. The vocals once again steal the show on this track, resulting in a sound which is going to pull you in, force you to listen and allow you to gradually fall in love with the voice of Lady D, once again offering up a track which you’ll return to time and time again.
Closing with When, I was expecting a massive crescendo to the EP, and it doesn’t appear. Once again returning us to the thought provoking moments of track 3, the soft closing moments of this track echo out across the melodic backing, resulting in one final track designed to get you thinking about life, love and loss. Despite the lack of ‘crescendo’, the closing moments of this EP do what they should, leaving you wanting more and with a sense of calm reflectiveness flowing through you. Sure, this is a chilled out track, but it’s full of emotion, power and questions which make you think, a great finish to a great EP.
Shotgun House aren’t what I was expecting when I went into this EP, which is probably a good thing as it meant I could listen 100% objectively and allow the music to do the talking for me. The sound they’ve gone for is laid back at times, upbeat at others, emotional at times but well written and put together throughout. The result is an EP which I know I’ll be coming back to time and time again, and one which a lot of people are going to enjoy.
To find out more about Shotgun House, check out their Facebook page HERE.
Words: Dave Nicholls
