SixStopMusic reviews… Pencils For Pistols

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March 12, 2013 by sixstopmusic

Pencils For Pistols
Rock Zombie, Dudley
March 7th 2013

We’re in Dudley for the Rock Zombie launch night, and having never heard any of the bands on the bill, we’re excited to hear the next band, Pencils For Pistols. If not only because of their name!

The 3 man outfit hit the stage, and the crowd are ready! ‘Hope is…?’ is the first track. The lead vocalist/bassist drops a killer intro and the whole band quickly join him. Musical these guys already show us they know what they are doing. The play is excellent all round.

The guys quickly establish their phunked up sound, and we have to say, we really enjoy what we see and hear. In ‘Material Slave’ they phunk the living daylights out of the intro, and the vocalist has a Lajon Witherspoon quality to his sound. The guys are serving up a very cool treat, and we, along with the rest of the crowd are feasting on it. Tight deadstop to finish.

No sooner had we made the Sevendust connection Pencils For Pistols introduce their first of 2 covers, ‘Angel’s Son’ by Sevendust. A great track, and we’re interested to hear how these guys take it on. And in all fairness they do it justice. The guitar play is good, drums hold it all together, and the vocal is top. As always we compare it to the original, and have to say this is the best cover we have heard yet from an unsigned band, but the original is a tough one to beat!

‘Tek Me Ahhhht’ or for anyone not from the Black Country, ‘Take Me Out’ is another funked up metal mashup. We can hear a bit of ‘Red Hot Chili Peppers’, and a ‘Come Together’ feel to the riff. These guys seem to bring so many influences together to form a unique sound.

And they even throw a bit of ‘Dire Straits’ in for good measure. A solid cover of ‘Money For Nothing’, but not a patch on their earlier Sevendust effort.

A staple of the set so far has been the band’s funky intros, and their final track ‘Heart-Shaped Jigsaw’ is no different. The song layers into a ‘Rage Against The Machine – esque’ feel, and the vocals come alive! The guitar, drum, and bass play have been very good throughout, and they keep it together for the finale. ‘No longer lonely….’ Is one of the lyrics in this one, and we have to say Pencils For Pistols are no longer lonely, as after tonight, they certainly have at least 2 more fans of their work!

The band wrap up to the best crowd reaction of the night so far, and well deserved!

Jaytee says;
These guys funked the night up and I loved it. Their sound was unlike anything we have encountered on the unsigned scene so far, and it’s great. Do feel that they can build on their sound as with just the 3 piece, it’s quite raw. But I’m being picky there. As I say will be seeing these guys again, and I hope they can gain some more exposure, and top bills across the Midlands, and into the rest of the UK.

Jannetty says;
it is not often you see an unsigned band own a stage, but it happened tonight in Dudley. They brought the funk and had a front man who gave everything. Well structured songs and a brilliant cover of Sevendust’s ‘Angel’s Son’. One to watch this year….