Pearl Handled Revolver could be easily be dismissed as a raw gut blues band with a rocky edge, were it not for an adventurous and creative style that push and pulls the core genre into several different musical directions. And it's this creative restlessness that makes the band an interesting left field proposition.

Fronted by the uncompromising Tom Waits style growl of lyricist Lee Vernon , PHR are essentially a jam band who love nothing more than exploring a series of intense grooves crammed full of dense organ, electric piano flurries and a wide variety of guitar parts. They set out their stall on the jammed out opening of 'Walk On By' and never look back.

What glues this demo album together is the way the band leans into their songs and never lets up until they've uncovered every last possible nuance. Vocalist Vernon makes a good fist of bringing his unique expression to 9 songs that don't so much offer you a blueprint of the band's style as give you a clue as to their future potential

For PHR may be a blues band at heart, but they tear up the script to follow their own instincts on an album that works up some magical moments of band interplay over a succession of deep seated grooves and wide ranging styles.

As their PR accurately suggests, PHR's blues is 'primal, visceral and dirty' but in truth it's the source of so much more. The ghost of Jim Morrison occasionally rears its head, most notably on the vocals, guttural enunciations and cool groove of 'Robin's Garden' and the slow burning '25 Below' on which Lee adds a Morrison style outro. The Doors influence also features on the electric piano and bass led 'God Won't Let My Baby In Tonight' and the closing 'Rainbow', with its Dead Dan Dance noir feel.

Lee Vernon's voice may hit you like a brick wall on the opening 'Walk On By' and the exclamatory yell of 'Bring It All Home' but he has the wherewithal to vary his phrasing. He holds back a little to extend a vowel on 'Today Was The Day' and even switches to backing vocals to emphasize the melody line. Almost inevitably he nuances Joe Cocker on the 'Little Help From My Friends' organ intro of 'Never Liked You Anyway', before returning to his rough edged growl on 'God Won't Let My Baby In Tonight' The subtle shifts of pace, tempo, mood and use of subtle dynamics guide the listener through a organic musical landscape in which the band take every opportunity to push a groove to its fullest conclusion.

Perhaps the most unique aspect of Pearl Handled Revolver is their willingness to explore a resonant West Coast feel. This is particularly so on the psychedelic organ/guitar motif and period bv's of 'Today Was The Day' and the concluding dreamy 'Rainbow' with its echo laden vocal, slide guitar and 60's organ sound. If you played these two tracks back to back, you'd swear it was a retro American West Coast band with a contemporary vibe. But PHR are much more than that, and the key to the band's future success lies in their restless spontaneity, which on the evidence of this showcase recording makes their forthcoming summer debut cd something to look forward to.

****

Review by Pete Feenstra