While the BLACK EYED SONS may be unheard of (at present), the band members are recognizable and boast impressive musical experience.
After two decades as The Quireboys, these veteran musicians launch a new band project with a celebratory, upbeat debut album, “Cowboys In Pinstriped Suits.”
We were fortunate enough to be invited to the band & album launch party on December 16th, 2024, at London’s Lexington Pub in Islington, with select guests and music journalists. The venue has hosted many top acts, including The Hold Steady, Ezra Furman, and Graham Coxon over the years.
A full house greeted the band as they took to the stage, introduced by the head of Off Yer Rocka Recordings.
energetic boogie-woogie rhythms, oil & turpentine vocals, and intertwining guitars…
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Songs that brought oodles of groove and tempo — such as ‘Lie to Me’ — echoed the Rolling Stones’ Exile on Main St. era, and featured energetic boogie-woogie rhythms, oil & turpentine vocals, and intertwining guitars.
‘Medicine’ was apparently written after a ‘life saving conversation,’ with Stevie D of Buckcherry (also written with vocalist Josh Todd) and, (perhaps) that’s why the song was a swaying recontemplation of life’s woes and bumps, yet still managed to channel a loving cupful of twinkle-eyed chutzpa.
Frontman vocalist Guy Griffin admitted, ‘We haven’t played for a year and a half… it’s as if we’ve come out of a cryogenic chamber...’ before he dedicated the title track of the album to Joe Elliott (of Def Leppard).
Featuring a blend of wry wit, extended whips of electric guitar, a danceable beat, and blazons of raw, almost messy (but truly exciting) sounds, ‘Cowboys in Pinstriped Suits’ (written with Joe Elliot, Ryan Roxie, and Chip Z’Nuff) was a unique musical experience. The song was timeless and melancholy, yes, with an earworm of a chorus, but came across as identifiable in terms of judgement.
‘Dig Me Out of This Hole’ (written with Scotti Hill of Skid Row) continued the salacious skullduggedness and glam strutiness that came across quite frequently on stage. This song was like something that might have been performed during the Toys in the Attic years by Aerosmith. The tune became filled with vibrant energy, joyful spirit, and unwavering optimism.
If you love nostalgic, feel-good rock ‘n’ roll and crave somthing similar to 1974’s Mott the Hoople, then the Black Eyed Sons are your next must-listen!
The album is set to launch on January 31, 2025, through Off Yer Rocka Recordings.
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