Gringo Star fire shots, pulsing from a vintage Leslie speaker, their guitars, keys and vocals create the psychoactive ingredients of their echo-slathered, doo-wop-indebted indie gems; psychedelic garage bangers, gritty R&B shuffles and spaghetti western weirdness.,,

The Sides and in Between is the new album from Gringo Star. Obvious influences include Santo & Johnny, The Stooges, Ritchie Valens, Marc Bolan, Percy Faith, Sam Cooke... and there's even a hint of The Last Shadow Puppets.

Brothers Nick and Peter Furgiueles’s roots, explain a little of where they are coming from. Their grandfather worked in radio in the '40s and '50s and was a huge promoter of R&B back when it was still segregated. He was played black music and put on shows with Little Stevie Wonder, James Brown, Sam Cooke & the Soul Stirrers, as well as a lot of Gospel shows. Their Grandmother's photo albums are full of images like Jackie Wilson shirtless backstage, just hanging out.

The brother's love of music from the '50s, and the '60s bands they inspired, is evident here. This album is like a little slice of updated '50s music - as though someone had come from that time (skipping the intervening years) and attempted to modernise their sound for today's teenagers.

The sound works well and is certainly memorable. The album is quite short and contains 10 tracks (29 min, 29 sec). Here and there you'll recognise a riff or beat from your parent's/grandparent's music collection. This is an interesting album that's certainly worth a listen.

8

Nick Smithson