Pebbleman: Call Of Fate

You can often place the blues into distinct boxes denoting the style you'll expect to find when you break the tape and set the sounds free. However that's not necessarily the case with Pebbleman, a four-piece who sound authentically American, yet dip into the UK blues scene of the 70s and somehow manage to add an accessibly memorable European twist. So where on Earth could this band come from? South Africa, obviously!

The star behind this classy mix is guitarist Richard Pryor (no, not that Richard Pryor, obviously), a man who roams where his six string take him. He's flanked by the simply awesome vocal talents of Jesse Jordan, a singer whose full rich range adds hugely to the already bubbling pot of riffs, solos and grooves. The backbone? Well that arrives in the shape of bassist Rob Stemmett and drummer Kevin Gibson, the pair clever enough to know that their contributions are all the more vital for being exactly what the songs require, although they undoubtedly know when to add a few well placed embellishments.

"Loaded" is where we start and considering just how loaded the band's fourth album, Call Of Fate, is with rich classy nuggets of blues rock, it's an apt title. The song itself sets the album's stall out clear and simple, ultra-fluid fret work from Pryor a joy to behold, as a chorus that proves much more stick in the mind than you'd expect in this setting, quickly takes hold. However here and elsewhere on COF, what really resides in the memory banks is the big, thick, irresistible grooves, the temptation to sing them long after this album has stopped spinning, simply too tough to resist. "Live Or Die" rides the gamut of slick pace setter and easy scene stealer, the music painting a picture you can't help but want to step into, while the authentic mood carries you along – if Bonamassa had written this, it would be received as greatness.

From there "Love Is A Powerful Thing" adds a mighty slice of soul, something reminiscent of Stevie Wonder's "Superstitious" given a guitar fuelled turbo-injection. Whereas "Count On You" takes the tried and tested train kept a rollin' groove and rides it straight into the station marked Bryan Adams meets Robin Trower – it shouldn't work, but once that groove has shaken your house to the floor, you won't be able to deny just how well it does. Add in the traditional blues holler of "Baby Calls My Name" and the six string workout that closes proceedings in the shape of "Brand New Day" and you're left with a blues album that quite gloriously covers all the expected bases and then adds many more.

Track Listing
1. LOADED

2. LIVE OR DIE

3. LOVE IS A POWERFUL THING

4. ENERGY

5. I'VE GOT A GIRL

6. DEAD MAN'S EYES

7. COUNT ON YOU

8. BABY CALLS MY NAME

9. CALL OF FATE

10. BRAND NEW DAY

Added: May 21st 2016
Reviewer: Steven Reid
Score:
Related Link: Call Of Fate at the Grooveyard
Hits: 3100
Language: english

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