The Answer Sundowners Album Review by Graham Finney
Seven years is a long time for a band to be in hibernation, as is the case for Northern Ireland rockers The Answer but, listening to the open tones of return album “Sundowners”, it feels like the band have never been away. A lot of this you can put down to the fact that, despite trends coming and going in those seven years, bands like The Answer create a sound that is simply timeless.
Opening with the hazy title-track, the Northern Ireland lads slip straight into their groove in the most glorious fashion and, from that moment on, it’s business as usual. Cranking things up for the wailing, swaggering “Blood Brother”, the slight fuzz on the guitars and the stomping beat have you nodding along in no time. It’s a pattern the band follow throughout the album and as the album saunters into “California Rust”, you should just sit back, shut your eyes and let that hazy, sun-drenched sound transport you to a warm Californian Summer evening.
The other reason that “Sundowners” feels such a timeless album is that it all sounds so honest and real. Whether that is down to Dan Wellers production which has left the album feeling live and almost untouched by technology, or the fact that Cormac Neeson’s vocals have an earthy grit to them, every beat, riff and vocal line on tracks like the storming “Cold Heart” or the AC/DC-esque “Living On The Line” feel like they come straight from the heart.
You may look at what is fashionable at the moment and wonder where The Answer and their classic rock drenched sound fit into that. Quite simply, they don’t and, listening to this mammoth return to form, we’re quite glad about that because, as I sit letting this album wash over me, it is snowing outside and I can’t think of a better soundtrack than this for those lazy Summer evenings which, hopefully, are not too far away.
Pre-order your copy of Sundowners from the The Answer Online Store
Track Listing
1. Sundowners
2. Blood Brother
3. California Rust
4. Want You To Love Me
5. Oh Cherry
6. No Salvation
7. Cold Heart
8. All Together
9. Livin’ On The Line
10. Get Back On It
11. Always Alright
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