GENTLEMEN OF DISTORTED SOUND : Bone Idol

Jul 25 2010 by Paul Cole, Sunday Mercury

GENTLEMEN OF DISTORTED SOUND Bone Idol EP

(Bare Knuckle)

wIT must run in the family. Singer Gareth Nugent is a cousin of Detroit rock wildman Ted Nugent, and his new band’s debut set is as subtle as a sledgehammer.

In a good way, that is. Gentlemen Of Distorted Sound play rock and roll the way she’s meant to be played – hard, fast and at times dangerously deranged.

And this from a frontman not long out of the West End, where he took over the lead role in Elvis The Musical from PJ Proby.

At just five songs long it’s a mini-album (or an EP if you must) that suggests there’s a storm brewing in London, where the band is based.

Opener Electric has all the adrenaline rush of classic Cult, a hollered hook backed by squealing guitar, throbbing bass and pounding drums.

Beautiful Face (For Evil) takes its cues from Alice Cooper, and The Gods has a Kashmir clone riff that suggests the guys have more than one Zeppelin album.

Next up is a mash-up of two classic covers: ZZ Top brothel boogie La Grange and Grand Funk Railroad anthem Shinin’ On, both delivered down and dirty.

Finally, Breathe rides an express train groove worthy of Download 2011. PC