Aural Aggravation

Christopher Nosnibor

Ernie Ball’s 10 Gauge set is tagged as ‘skinny tip, heavy bottom’ – and it’s an apt description for the sound of this Hertfordshire quintet whose blues-based classic hard rock stylings are chunky on the riffery while packing in no shortage of lead detail.

Because ‘I’m Broken’ is very much in the vein of so many other bands from the last thirty years, there’s an almost instant familiarity to it, and that’s much of the appeal. Not every band can break new ground, and nor should they want to. Moreover, certain genres seem to demand a certain adherence to trope, and as such, it’s more about how well an act does it which determines how they should be judged.

There’s no question that they’ve got a knack for a big chorus, and ‘I’m Broken’ boasts a whopper: Rob Jewson’s powerful vocal is pushed along by the crunch of a dual guitar attack. That they pack it all in tightly into under three minutes is admirable, too: there’s nothing indulgent or excessive here, just a suitably solid, focussed song that balances ballsiness and melody just nicely.