Wille and the Bandits

Grow

Written by: BV on 30/12/2013 21:23:52

Wille and the Bandits is a trio that hails from England. The band utilizes a variety of different sounds ranging from blues over roots-rock to some straight-up world-inspired music, where the constant centerpiece seems to be frontman Wille Edward’s eclectic guitar playing. Make no mistake though, the group entity as a whole is still the main dynamic but with added focus on portraying Edward’s skills on various types of guitars.

As the album opens with “Got To Do Better”, there is an apparent ooze of funk all over the place, as the trio skillfully jams their way through this rocking opener. As the band moves into the following track “Gypsy Woman” which has a slightly heavier, yet still funky and quite soulful edge to it, it seems quite apparent that whatever venture may follow on this album, Wille and the Bandits seem quite determined to add some vibrant funk to it – thus refraining from adhering to the otherwise quite specific genre-norms of the power-trio format.

Following this veritable barrage of funk-oozing opening tracks, “Grow” seems to slow down a bit as an album, as the band makes its way toward “Try To Be Yourself” – a haunting ballad that stirs up all the emotions you’d want a ballad to, without getting unbearably corny. Rightfully so, the track ends with a fuzzed-out soundscape to sort of underline that even though this was a ballad, the band still has some grooves left to show.

As the album comes to a close with the nearly 12 minutes long guitar-epic “Angel” that ranges from beautifully haunting melodies over fuzzed out cacophony and back again, it becomes abundantly clear that Wille and the Bandits is a band that people who are yearning for new power trios should be on the lookout for – they’re most likely heading for bigger things than this, making it no surprise really that the band has already supported some rather large acts such as Joe Bonamassa and Deep Purple. Granted, whilst this may not be everyone’s cup of tea, fans of guitar eclecticism and dynamic, ridiculously groovy group dynamics should do themselves a favor and check this album out – it’s not something I’d imagine fans of such regretting.

8

Download: Angel, Got to do Better, Gypsy Woman
For the fans of: eclectic guitar-work a la Joe Bonamassa coupled with a serious inspiration from world music.
Listen: Facebook

Release date 14.10.2013
Self-released


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