GENTLEMAN'S PISTOLS 'Gentleman's Pistols' (Candlelight) RATING: 6/10

By RYAN MAVITY

It’s too bad The Darkness and Wolfmother beat Gentleman’s Pistols to the ‘70s-Zeppelin-revival-rock market. Otherwise, I’d find them pretty original. I’m not quite sure what to feel because the music is cool on one hand, but on the other, I feel like I’ve heard this already from other, more well-known bands and it wasn’t entirely my cup of tea to begin with.

If Wolfmother should be paying Jimmy Page and Robert Plant royalties for sounding so much like Zep, Gentleman’s Pistols should add other British blues bands such as Cream and The Animals to their list. This is as simple and back to basics as rock can get. Between the up-tempo rockers such as “Widow Maker,” “Just a Fraction,” there is the classic 12-bar blues of “Heavy Petting.” The album takes rock back to its roots for sure.

And yet, it’s that approach that reveals why I couldn’t quite get into it all the way and deem it a classic. It’s like the album is too retro for its own good. You spend more time counting the sources than you do hearing the band playing in front of you. The garage rock feel of the record doesn’t come across as spontaneous as it should; these guys aren’t bigger than life like The Darkness or as clever. There are hooks abound, but they are augmented by lyrics that a just beginning bar-band musician would find cool. There are also some cool solos, but song titles like “Creamy Lid” and “Parking Banshee”?

Gentleman’s Pistols is a band I can see connecting with people, but I don’t think I’m that guy. It has a lot of great elements but never quite becomes a great album. I like the idea behind Gentleman’s Pistols; I’m just not sure I completely dig the end result.