Quattro Amigos is the new EP from 4-piece Loose Joints. This blues-rock band from Essex go all out on this release with some killer songs, making it their best EP record yet (you can hear their previous releases on their bandcamp).
First track is ‘Graves’, a bluesy romp that immediately comes to life with a Jean Genie-esque guitar riff and bass line. Joe Kean’s vocals are rough and ready like a gruff Dan Auerbach to perfectly sit on top of the music. Loose Joints have double the amount of musicians as The Black Keys and this becomes clear in the wall of sound that is the chorus of this song; clashing cymbals and twanging guitar overload your eardrums but it just feels right.
‘Meeting of the Gods’ is a funkier number which starts off with a classic section of finger clicks and cheeky chromatic guitars. Almost spoken sections of lyrics convey slight sarcasm – “I’ve got nothing important to say anyway” – making this tune even sassier. The title track ‘Quattro Amigos’, presumably referring to the band mates themselves, is a simple short song and I can imagine that when they play this live it is absolutely insane. With the only lyrics being “Quattro amigos, out of control” it leaves Loose Joints free reign to totally rock out and the best bit is that it still sounds awesome.
‘Soft Bullets’ starts totally differently to the other songs on this EP, a real contrast from the previous tracks making it my personal favourite. A gently mysterious solo guitar riff drifts slowly to your eardrums added to by a mellow but strong drum beat which builds up more and more, eventually building to a loud, crazy and funky end to the song. Although this seems to be Loose Joints’ formula for most of their songs, it really works for them. Closer to the rest of the EP is ‘Assassin of Youth’, an almost 6 minute knockout where Loose Joints show exactly what they’re about: a 2 minute intro which builds into the final repeated refrain “just fuckin’ gimme some drugs” is an explosion of guitars and drums, totally blowing me away from what I ever expected when I began listening to this EP.
If you want a chance to hear Loose Joints rock out live head to The Garage in Islington on the 12th July for their EP launch party, it’s set to be a great night!
Elli Brazzill
@littlelionelli
Elli Brazzill
Latest posts by Elli Brazzill (see all)
- LIVE: Broken Hands – Gullivers, Manchester 27.04.16 - April 30, 2016
- LIVE: Kygo – Manchester Academy 1 21.04.16 - April 24, 2016
- Discovery Of The Week: Lena Laki - April 7, 2016
