If you have ever come across the Poole Vigilante frontman Neil Law, you won’t forget the encounter in a hurry. Scottish born Neil certainly has a way with words and a passion for Rock music that goes back many decades. Within minutes of meeting him the conversation would be steered to music and you’d be discussing all the Rock bands that he has seen over the years, along with plenty of interesting unprintable stories. This experience and passion is shared amongst his fellow band members Matt Birley (Guitar), Martin Davies (Bass) and Terry Bernard (Drums).
After many years performing covers of their favourite artists at a host of venues and pubs; the band decided to write some original material in the form of their EP “Chase The Ace”, which was released in May of this year. The band have taken things one step further and on 29th July they released their 10 track debut album entitled “In The City Of Lies”.
Frontman Neil explains: “the album idea was born during lockdown when I was furloughed and then made redundant from my job. This gave me time to sit and reflect on things that I had experienced, gone through and come out the other side of. That was when I started writing lyrics, lots of lyrics. It was recorded at our guitarist Matt’s house and self-produced/mastered by Matt and I. I qualified as a sound engineer back in 2000 from Kingston University in Surrey, I have previously worked in sound recording and production on television; so I was able to put those skills to good use”.
The album boasts some impressive tracks that will certainly get any self-respecting Rock fan lifting their devil horns high above their heads. The band has unrivalled chemistry and throughout the ten tracks you can see some splendid creativity taking influence from some of the most well respected bands across the Rock and Metal spectrum. If your denim sleeveless battle jacket features patches by Kiss, Iron Maiden, AC/DC, Motorhead, Saxon or Judas Priest then this album’s for you.
The quartet revel in the bands of yesteryear that have graced the stages of some of the world’s largest Rock festivals. There are guitar solos aplenty with Matt showing off his skills with notable solo’s in “Broken Wings” and “Midnight Alley”. The uncompromising rhythm section of Terry and Martin pummel your ears with a host of huge, effective backing that propels each track. Neil delivers each vocal like he is on stage at Wembley stadium in front of 72000 Rock fans screaming his name, using his considerable vocals to benefit each track. His lyrics are somewhat auto-biographic; taking you through a host of stories including Marriage, Divorce, Death, Social Media and even a tune dedicated to their fans. One of the standout tracks “30 Days” not only features possibly the best guitar riff of this collection but Neil also delivers his gruff vocal notably. The track is about Neil being banned from Facebook for putting across his controversial views.
The band through this album plan to reach out beyond the local vicinity and have some major festival appearances planned; as well as their frequent local gigs in their favourite venue, the Lord Nelson in Poole. Even the formidable landlady Anna Doyle gets a name check on the album sleeve, while one of their fans Becky Crothall-Brown provides some excellent live photography for the inner sleeve. The striking artwork featuring the crow, the rose and the girl was painstakingly created by Sharon Bridge. If you look carefully in the crow’s eye you can see a minute image of the four band members.
In The City Of Lies is out now and can be purchased here on Bandcamp and here.
Track Listing
Warrior
Chase The Ace
Broken Wings
Look Me In The Eye
Long Road
Midnight Alley
30 Days (Explicit)
Hard Rock Angels
Overboard
We Came Here To Rock
Poool Vigilantes are:
Vocal: Neil Law
Guitar: Matt Birley
Drums: Terry Bernard
Bass: Martin Davies
Links
https://www.pvrocks.co.uk
https://www.facebook.com/pvrecordingsinc
Article by David Chinery (Chinners).
