The Silhouettes– EXTRA SHOT!
Release Date: 19th December 2022
Reviewed on 5th January 2023 by Dave Diamond
BAND MEMBERS:
Lewis Cutts - guitar
Ian Baker - Bass
Conrad Farmer - Drums
Produced and Mixed by: Graham Dominy of Embassy Studios.
Mastered by: Graham Dominy of Embassy Studios.
Front cover artwork by: WILD Records photographer Daniel Funaki.
Distribution: The groups Bandcamp shop or Wild Records Europe direct.
https://thesilhouettes.bandcamp.com/album/extra-shot
Tracks written and performed by: The Silhouettes.
Let’s have a listen to the tracks –
Extra Shot – title track from the first album by this trio that kick starts with 3 staggered sections, and then we are off… this number for sure is hitting the nail right on the head!… at 2 minutes 17 seconds we are treated to a powerful instrumental with fantastic twanging guitar work from Lewis, high octane drumming by Conrad and a pounding bass line from Ian..loving the breakdown section mid-way through that adds some light and shade….extra shot…I’ve just ordered a triple!! Love it!
Murdersville – great echo start to this number…..very reminiscent of the Meek sound…. Fab high-pitched guitar work with the bass sitting just nicely behind, great use of drum rim hits on the verses that then change to snare work on the chorus. At 1 minute 26 this song is so good I would have loved it to go round once more… wowsville!
Build My Gallows High – here goes gang… 3 minutes 33 …this number starts off with an eerie chord and has a Spanish haunting style, that just makes you imagine some poor juvenile delinquent heading straight for the gallows… nice floor tom use on this tune that sits just perfect alongside the bass. This number could be straight out of a Ennio Morricone film!
Conquistador – they were the explorer soldiers of the Spanish and Portuguese Empires of the 15th and 16th centuries…wowza what a great title for a song!… You can feel the soldiers stomping through the grounds on another powerhouse instrumental, really digging the quintuple stabs and the crash that accompanies that mid-section, another nice change of tempo at 1min 15 and fab build ups at the end to this number.
Iced ‘N’ Spiced – here we go folks…an up-tempo instrumental to get your feet stomping and it’s finger tapping-tastic! This track really does showcase the bands musicianship to the maximum… lots going on and it’s only 1 minute 43 secs long… I’m gonna have to play it again!…
Stranger In A Strange Land – the title is taken from a 1961 science fiction novel by American author Robert A. Heinlein. This tune features a nice guitar lick at the start…reminded me a bit of Paint It Black…loving the nice dee tuned D that’s played on Lewis’s ’72 Fender Telecaster Limited Edition with bigsby.. once again great floor tom work from Conrad mixed in with a powerful snare beat and all held in line by Ian’s fantastic heavy bass licks!
Sheik Beat – sounds very exotic – … I can see the snake wriggling out from the basket…. Arrrgghhhhh! This number is a lot slower and more of a strolling pace… very high pitched guitar mixed in with an offbeat snare drum rhythm and a fab chugging bass line..it has a great twanging staggered ending too.
Bandit Run – at 1 minute 46 this grabs you right from the start and you can see the inspiration the Silhouettes take from 60’s instrumental band The Ventures… this number could easily have been featured on their self-titled 1961 album… again a fab number that I would have liked to have gone round again, so folks I’m going ‘run’ it again… love the change of rhythm at 53 seconds, what a fantastic tune!
Savage Country – this is a newly mixed/remastered version of 'Savage Country' and once again is a knockout tune… I loved this when it was first featured on the bands earlier 7” record on Wild Records..top notch indeed!
Eastern Shores – this track has a lot of mystique and a mystery feel to it… nice use of the snare rim by Conrad that explodes into great cymbal and snare pattern, once again Ian’s bass work is fab and sits perfect along with the drums, also Lewis has used great echo on his guitar.
Topaz – what a great title for a song and for sure another gem from this fantastic instrumental trio… It would have been fab for a James Bond soundtrack back in the 60’s… From Russia With Love springs to mind! Really loving the build up towards the end of this number that finishes off the tune just perfectly.
Spectre Of The Gun – Final instrumental on this 12 track release..This title is taken from an old episode of Star Trek…. It has a great spooky reverb guitar from Lewis that really makes the song, interspersed with fab floor tom and powerful drumming by Conrad and more warm and deep tones from Ian’s bass geetar work…
In their own words –
The Silhouettes are an instrumental Rock 'n' Roll band from Birmingham UK and were formed in May 2020 with the aim of creating a sound that although has influences such as 60's instro bands The Ventures, The Shadows and late 90's groups (The Bomboras, The Galaxy Trio), actually transcends any particular genre. We have performed at some point live standards from the 150+ shows that the band have performed throughout UK, Europe and USA. So, our sound is all there from the early Ventures inspired rhythms of' Eastern Shores' or Iced 'n' Spiced through to the cinematic and Post Noir vibes which now cement the bands identity (Murdersvile, Stranger in a Strange Land) In fact the final track 'Spectre of The Gun' blueprints the future Silhouettes sound which will be fully explored in the follow LP out late 2023, but this of course is another story so stay tuned!
BAND Influences: influences such as 60's instro bands The Ventures, The Shadows and late 90's groups (The Bomboras, The Galaxy Trio), actually transcends any particular genre
CLOSING COMMENTS ABOUT THE ALBUM:
Wowsville!…here we have 12 cuts of savage rhythms, edgy exotica and post noir vibes from this instrumental band from Birmingham, U.K. This is the Silhouettes debut album for Wild Records and does not disappoint, with all self-penned numbers that will get you moving and grooving whilst spinning it on your record player! It is released on 180 gram heavyweight vinyl. Be sure to catch The Silhouettes at one of their 9 UK dates promoting this album starting on the 14th January and culminating in an appearance at The Wild Weekender, Netherlands on March 3rd.
