Review: Bigfoot – Stone Soldiers
After myself and Ramrod had the pleasure of chatting to Sam and Tom from Bigfoot in our Hard Rock Hell special episode, it is great to begin 2016 with a new EP from them.
‘Stone Soldiers’ consists of 5 tracks; each one driven by a blues infused, guitar driven, drum pounding beat and all enveloped by the crisp vocals of Antony Ellis.
Confident in their song writing ability, each of the 5 tracks clock in between 4 and a half to 5 and a half minutes long, but believe me when I say that you won’t be tempted to skip forward during any of these songs.
The EP kicks off with the title track ‘Stone Soldiers’, a song that reminded me of the very underrated band Thunder. This song sets the precident for the whole EP; melodic rock with a beat that you can’t help but at the very least tap your foot to it. I’m immediately aware that these guys are making music that is my aural ‘bread and butter’; a guitar sound that I can listen to all day, a meaty drum sound and a vocalist that could sing the contents of a phone book and make it sound great.
‘In The Gutter’ begins with a staccato drum and guitar intro that continues as the beating heart of this track before slowing the pace after a guitar solo that would have had me dropping to my knees, mouth open, air guitaring along to it in my younger days (I don’t think that I could get up if I did that now!)
If track 3 ‘Run’ doesn’t get the crowd pumping their fists at Bigfoot’s live shows, then the gig must surely be full of amputees. Once again the dual guitar attack of Sam and Mick are an absolute joy to hear.
Fresh from the fist pumping of ‘Run’, track 4 ‘Just Like Me’ will get everyone singing along at the top of their voices. A little harder in sound than the previous songs, it has that anthemic beat that just HAS to be played as loud as your ears can take.
‘Blame It On The Dog’ closes the EP and while lyrically it may not win any Grammy’s, musically it once again shows that Bigfoot is a band that deserves to go places. When it breaks into a 1970’s Shaft inspired break I defy anyone not to have a huge smile on their face.
The band were kind enough to give me a pre-release download link to this EP for review, but I have also pre-ordered it (signed copy too) as well as their debut EP. At my age I am ‘set in my ways’ with music that I enjoy, and bands that I discovered in my formative years get the majority of play when I listen to music. It is rare that a band comes along nowadays that enthuses me about music once again and Bigfoot have certainly done that; I’ve had this EP on repeat play since I first got the link to it.
I look forward to seeing Bigfoot live in 2016 and if you like their music (which if you have similar tastes to me, I’m sure you will) then please support the band and spend the equivalent of a pint and a packet of crisps on Stone Soldiers. In an age where it is all too easy (and by this generation usually expected) to download music for free, it is important that we keep the music we love moving forward and put our hands in our pockets to give these people the support they deserve. Then get your hand out of your pocket, make it into a fist and throw it into the air the next time you see Bigfoot live.
Keep up the great work guys, you’ve made an ageing rocker very happy.
Bigfoot are based in Wigan, Northwest UK and consist of:
Antony Ellis – Lead Vocals
Sam Millar – Guitar
Mick McCullagh – Guitar
Matt Avery – Bass
Tom Aspinall – Drums
Please bookmark the bands website, like their Facebook page and follow them on Twitter: @BigfootUKRock
Review by Dave (host of 60 Minutes With)
To give you a flavour of their music, here’s the music video from their previous EP.
