The Strats

CD - Warriors Of The Night

Play 90 second soundbite of 'Warriors Of The Night' @ 'CD quality'

The Strats are two guys, Will Ludford (guitar and vocals) and Nigel Branigan (keyboard and vocals) from County Monaghan, Ireland. Aiming at the more commercial side of the Blues genre they've put together ten original tracks here. The Strats are signed to Blues Matters Records and are trying damned hard to break out of the (rather limited and limiting) musical confines of The Emerald Isle.

So, intro's over, 'Warriors Of The Night' initially feels a little lightweight although there's a good overall vibe, albeit somewhat naive sounding, to the work. Will's guitar work roars around over and around Nigel's keys work. Drums here are provided by a drum machine and I'm afraid it shows; there's very little emotion in this part of the 'rhythm section'. The Strats do own up to this fact though and stress that they play live without a drummer so didn't want to fool anyone with a totally false recorded sound - that's cool. The bass parts of the 'rhythm section' are played on Nigel's second keyboard. Generally the whole ten track are pretty pacey, there's a distinct feel of mid period Bob Dylan in the vocals and some early Dire Straits influence in the 'chunes' (the title track being typical on both counts!).

There's a very early 'European Blues' feel to nearly every track with 'She's A Danger Zone' being typical; manic rhythm guitar, great Hammond organ sound and shortish (untypical of their stage work I believe) lead breaks.

For me, the whole feel of 'Warriors Of The Night' is a little bit staid and 'old hat' but somehow remains enjoyable and rather rewarding because it's a very honest piece of work. I get the impression that The Strats are very much a 'live' thing. They'll sell the CD at gigs with no trouble at all and I get the impression that they're actually better than this work indicates. (It's often difficult to transfer raw, live energy and commitment onto a recorded work.) But, as a lasting memory of The Strats live work this will almost certainly meet the mark.

So, do I like what I've heard? Well yes I do but with reservations! Certainly these guys have all the tools to hand. And, even as I write, I sense my foot tapping the floor almost none stop!. Without doubt the album is growing on me - no doubt I'll be giving it a few more plays yet. Ultimately, I think these guys will get loads of work and they'll no doubt stir their audiences up with ease.

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