The Bonnevilles: Arrow Pierce My Heart Review
Arrow Pierce My Heart is the latest release from Irish blues rock band The Bonnevilles. The album begins with “No Law in Lurgan,” establishing the static-abraded, reverberatory guitars that figure as a mainstay on the album, an acknowledgement of the recent blues rock trend popularized by The Black Keys and The Alabama Shakes. The album clutches a passionate fist around a bottle of Jameson and goes into the hard-rocking jam “My Dark Heart” and the vocally strained, tremolo-heavy “The Whiskey Lingers.”
The sharp, bouncing guitar of “The Electric Company” injects an extra shot of adrenaline with its mantra of vice and the sinister guitar of “Arrow Pierce My Heart” exudes a sense of foreboding while ingratiating itself to long-time blues rock fans with a rhythm that is heavily influenced by Led Zeppelin’s “Four Sticks.” The brief, folksy interlude of “Eggs and Bread” lyrically calls to mind “Long Black Veil” famously recorded by The Band and Johnny Cash.
The fuzzing rush of the guitars returns with “I Dreamt of the Dead;” the swaying rhythms translate easily into the swaggering “I’ve Come Too Far for Love to Die,” a song that could easily find itself in advertisements for an independent whiskey distiller. “Erotica Laguna Lurgana” is an instrumental mirage of shimmering heat whose occasional whistles and clattering of castanets envision a sweltering wasteland and a hopeful oasis.
“The Man with the X-Shaped Scar on His Cheek” is a true, aggressive, pick-scraping stand-out and “Those Little Lies” sets its scene intimately with an acoustic guitar and dampened percussion. “Learning to Cope’s” thundering, distorted guitar and far-off vocals sound like the call of an approaching phenomenon that the listener eagerly anticipates while struggling to define the creeping circulation of thrilling dread. “Who do I Have to Kill to Get out of Here” finishes the album with a strong instrumentation and a ghostly, vengeful, desperate pathos.
For fans of blues rock and Irish rock, Arrow Pierce My Heart is an insistent must-have record of fierce determination. Smoke-battered and tinged with burning, cleansing whiskey, Arrow Pierce My Heart jumps quickly and deliberately from heady, intoxicated mania to gentle, brooding reverie.
The Review: 8/10
Can’t Miss Tracks
– I’ve Come too Far for Love to Die
– The Man with the X-Shaped Scar on His Cheek
– Those Little Lies
– Learning to Cope
The Big Hit
– I’ve Come too Far for Love to Die
Review by McKinnie Sizemore
Buy the album: Amazon
Can’t Miss Tracks
– I’ve Come too Far for Love to Die
– No Law in Lurgan
– The Whiskey Lingers
– Erotica Laguna Lurgana
The Big Hit
– No Law in Lurgan