Album review: James And The Cold Gun – James And The Cold Gun

Having landed a coveted support slot for Guns N’ Roses’ epic show at Hyde Park earlier this summer, South Wales’ James And The Cold Gun evidently have admirers high up the rock food chain. The band, formed by former Holding Absence bassist James Joseph, have spent the past couple of years fleshing out their sound and their line-up, growing from a duo to a five-piece and dropping last year’s frenetic EP False Start to positive reviews.

Their debut, self-titled album now arrives amidst a wave of good feeling around the band, and while there’s certainly no reinventing of the wheel going on here, James And The Cold Gun’s first full-length delivers riffs and vintage rock and roll vibes aplenty. It’s easy to see why Axl and co. fancied them to open the show.

Rollicking single Chewing Glass opens proceedings with lots of attitude, providing the kind of riffy, Queens Of The Stone Age-esque sound that carries throughout the rest of the album’s 11 tracks. It's a fast-paced affair, and the likes of urgent rocker All The Wrong Places and the excellent Headlights come and go at breakneck speed. Despite their love of frenzy, though, the band convince even more when they slow things down somewhat, like on the moody, withheld Bittersweet, and sombre number Grey Through The Same Lens, which allows the vocal talent within the band to really come through.

On this evidence, there’s room for James And The Cold Gun to grow and flesh out a more rounded and individualised sound, but for a debut LP, this easily hits the target.

Verdict: 3/5

For fans of: Queens Of The Stone Age, Fangclub, The Mysterines

James And The Cold Gun is out now via Loosegroove