EP REVIEW: WARHORNS - 'WARHORNS'

When you grow up in a white, middle-class West Sussex town that's been a Tory safe zone since the dark ages like I did, you invest a lot of time and love in the local rock scene, especially those who pen their own original material. With no disrespect to the many awesome cover bands who frequent the pub circuit in Horsham (my old man plays in several of them), it was the events like countless gigs at Horsham Youth Centre, the Rudgwick Music Festival and the originals heats of Horsham's Battle Of The Bands that really piqued everyone's interest.

There are so many bands and artists of past and present who I just can't resist giving a shout-out to on this blog: Press to MECO, Blue Stragglers, fruitcake, Tied To The Mast, Sonic Deluxe, Simon Mole, Lee Martin, Killing Vegas, Phrase Mob, The Jack Mac Experience, Heroes Vs Villains (honestly, me and my friends literally worshipped that band when they were together)... Wasn't ever keen on X-Sys though - don't bother looking them up, there's barely a trace of them online anymore, but they made Deathstars look and sound like fucking Deicide.

In my adolescent days on the Horsham scene, there was one band by the name of Tell Wolves Tales, who were rightfully on the cusp of massive things before they sadly faded into obscurity. Since then, the trio have relocated, recuperated and reinvented themselves as WARHORNS. Now they're deep within the more publicly burgeoning Devonshire scene, where bands like Black Foxxes and Muncie Girls (*cough* album of 2016 so far *cough*) are splintering the woodwork, it's time for these mischievous rock n' rollers to fuel the fire in their bellies again.

With that hearty chunk of context (also known as 'me wazzing off about how awesome my local scene was growing up') out of the way, what of Warhorns' debut EP? Plymouth sure is a far cry from the Palm Desert, but these three tracks have 'Desert Sessions' written all over them. Whether it's the intense hooks of Queens Of The Stone Age, or the hazy stoner groove of Kyuss, Warhorns' framework has clearly been built from a healthy diet of Rancho De La Luna's output (watch the California episode of Sonic Highways for more on this). 

Also laying down a scruffy Northwestern drone reminiscent of the bands that would eventually be instrumental in the grunge scene, 'I Am The Sun' veers a little bit too close to that ever-present pickle of nostalgia-for-nostalgia's-sake. Luckily, the trio claw it back with those funky-as-fuckery verses; a mere wiggling of the hips when measured up against the sheer psychedelic sexiness of 'Piece Of Mind'.

There's no sign of sibling rivalry between the brotherhood of bassist Matty Clements and drummer Jym Clements as they hold down some sturdy, swaggering rhythms throughout, but 'Goodbye Karma' is Jak Paxton's time to shine. There is star quality worth keeping an eye on with Warhorns' frontman, who nestles between Josh Homme and Royal Blood's Mike Kerr.

There's some musical creases yet to be ironed out before their desert-driven rock takes full intoxicating effect, but for the most part, Warhorns' self-titled introduction is cool, confident and far from cautious.

TOP TRACKS: 'PIECE OF MIND'; 'GOODBYE KARMA'

RR RATING:

7 / 10

WARHORNS' SELF-TITLED EP IS OUT NOW. STREAM THE EP ON SPOTIFY BELOW:



THERE'S A LITTLE CHEEKY BONUS HERE AS WELL. THE BAND RECENTLY DID A WICKED SESSION FOR BBC INTRODUCING IN DEVON, WHICH YOU CAN CHECK OUT BY CLICKING HERE (IT STARTS AT 01:20:50)

Danny