LP Review: Thunderchief by Shotgun Sawyer

Previously going by the name of Thunderchief (now the name of their record), the newly named Shotgun Sawyer have released a debut full-length record that’s filled with heavy blues and fuzzy riffs to get everyone off their ass and moving to their beat.

The Californian trio open things up fairly lightly (compared to the rest of the record at least) with the raw riffing of ‘Skinwalker’ letting you roughly know what to expect from these guys; bluesy twangs at a rock’n’roll swaggering pace, but the band like to go heavier, and it’s with tracks such as the angry fuzz of ‘Sudden Death in the Flesh’ mixing juggernaut drumming over heavy riffs and clear impassioned vocals that pricks up your ears and has you jigging around the room before you realise it. The band have a lot of range and power in their work, just take a listen to ‘Lawman’, the gentle country-style guitar picking eases you along before the heavy fuzz riffs bust your face in two with its power. These guys are great musicians.

The vocals of Dylan Jarman are one of the things that set Shotgun Sawyer apart from their fellow blues rockers, yes OK the riffs are also heavier and the drumming is relentless (in the best kind of way), but when the clear vocals filled with a sharp passion, and an aching for a better way of life, hit the speakers, they connect with you on a sonic level that outweighs any other band in this genre at the moment. For a blues record, Thunderchief is a lot of fun, from the self-depreciating ‘I’m a Bad Man’, the tribute to the mystery that is ‘Gravedigger Dan’, the delta blues riffs of the ptsd chills on ‘Soldier Song’, the punk ethos on ‘Left For Dead’, to the all-out heavy blues of ‘Strawberry Jam’, Thunderchief is guaranteed to have you at your funky best wherever your dancefloor may be!

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