ninehertz

Requiem Blues are on a charted exponentially rising curve. Having impressed live last year and this and then delivered a more-than-decent self-titled debut in January, they bookend the year with a returning EP.

There are three tracks here, one headline cover and two new originals. The cover is Same Old Story by Taste, Rory Gallagher’s old band – of whom the wonderful cover art depicts. It is nice and bluesy, of course, with a real groove to the riff. It’s nice to hear a les obvious cover from the period stoner rock is in permanent debt to, and Requiem Blues perform it well, showing how to address retro rock, bringing out its Hendrix vibes.

With that being the title and focus on the EP, you’d be forgiven to thinking the remainder is an afterthought. You’d be completely wrong. This proves they’ve got their own writing chops in sounds of another era. Nowhere Fast is high quality – I must have said this about them before (particularly as this and their debut were produced by James Atkinson), but it remains true – it brings strong reminders of Gentlemans Pistols, which is more than fine by me, their end was never adequately replaced, and Requiem are in prime position to fill that yearning hole.

The organs are an awesome addition adding further weight to that retro authenticity. Sunday Torture is a livelier affair, with a nice guitar and rolling drum interplay. These two tracks are my highlight, as good as the Taste cover is.

Their album marked them out as one of the ones to watch in the retro/stoner rock UK underground – this more than cements it, placing them into essential listening territories. This is an excellent and joyful EP for right now, and as for the future – the world is theirs for the taking.