‘I Got Sound’ is the debut long player from FIREROAD. The band was formed in South Wales only last year, but you’d be hard pressed to hear that on record, as musically this is a very tight band indeed.
They comprise Richard Jones who is the lead singer and songwriter, Tim Jones on bass, Gavin Davies on guitar/piano, and Matthew Whitney on drums. Richard Jones has strong links with the South Wales, having been in The Tragic Love Company, which was the band that gradually evolved into Stereophonics.
Musically, the band has been compared to Gaslight Anthem and The Foo Fighters, however, there is a lot more going on there. Elements of new wave and punk rub shoulders with power rock songs to produce a blend that would be palatable to a wide audience.
The album opens with the title track, ‘I Got Sound’, which starts as an old style blues number before crashing into guitar riffs that wouldn’t seem out of place on the first Saints album. Drums and bass add layers and texture to make this the ideal opener. The lyrics are very crisp and clear in the mix, and add to the urgent vibe: “Well I got sound, it’s takin’ over, and you’ve got that cool, cool way about you now/ I’m gonna move, move on over, cause I know right now, that you’ll get me through/ 'Cause I’m gonna get to you, there’s nothing you can do. Not now anyway.”
As an opening track, this is as near perfect as you’re going to get. Following on from this is the punkier thrash of ‘Find A Way’ a very fast paced song whose simple lyrics covey a message of hope: “You got a pain in your heart, you know you’re dead/ You got a pain in your mind; it’s all in your head.” This also has the great line “keep the fire burning in you alive, babe”.
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Things take a bit of slowing down, and that comes with ‘Before The Matinee’, a near perfect rock anthem, with its slightly bruised rock and roll lyrics: “Under the moonlight, before the matinee/ before the second show, before the light of day/ I step in the street lights, well, I found my way/ Before the cars went slow, before the light of day.”
That said, I personally feel that the band is on rock solid ground with their more explosive songs, ones like ‘Never Wrong,’ a brooding track that sounds remarkably similar in riffage to Stiff Little Fingers is another excellent track, the juxtaposition of homophones is spot on: - “Write me a letter, right me a wrong.”
Overall, with a debut as good as this, it won’t be long before Fireroad will be selling out a stadium near to you. This is certainly an album worth owning.
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