Wille and the Bandits - Grow

Wille and the Bandits band hail from Plymouth in Devon, and consist of Wille Edward (master of the slide guitar), Matthew Brooks (wizard of the 6-string bass) and Andrew Naumann (beatmaker extraordinaire). When you mention slide guitar, you think automatically of country. But this is not exactly country or rock or anything you can place in one particular genre. The first track ‘Got To Do Better’ has a funky rock sound that you think will be the norm for the rest of the disc, especially when the equally funky but heavier second track ‘Gypsy Woman’ kicks in with a soulful beat and Wille declares that “There's magic behind those gypsy's eyes.” Having supported acts as diverse as Deep Purple, Joe Bonamassa, the John Butler Trio and Status Quo, Wille and the Bandits, however, produce their own sounds, incorporating eclectic grooves from world music to heavy rock. The three piece pick up pace with alarming results in the studio as well as on the stage, using an array of the tools of the trade such as tongue drum, djembe, lap steel guitar and double bass. They are attracting such a following that they were picked out by the Kaiser Chiefs as one of the top unsigned acts in the UK , who described them as being “destined for bigger things.” After its funky start, ‘Grow’ slows down a bit with the haunting ballad ‘Try to Be Yourself’, which ends with fuzzed- out meanderings and strings, and the brilliant handclap head shaker ‘Under The Grove’ with its soulful toe tapping. Nothing escapes the writings of Wille, especially the war mongering and fighting in the world today. There is some hard and deep soul-searching on ‘Still Go Marching In’ which asks us “When will that rainbow come?'” and has some wonderful backing vocals. They aren't adverse to a touch of reggae either. Mellowed groover 'Why'd You Do It' drifts almost like Fleetwood Mac into a racing solo that wouldn’t go a miss on ‘Top Gear’. Getting down and dirty is no problem either as ‘Son of the Gun’ will testify. ‘Keep On Moving’ goes down yet another road, but as Wille says, “the road is long but I'll stay strong,” while the gorgeous start to ‘Forgiveness’ are yet more proof of the diversity of what is surely one of Britain’s best kept secrets. The album finishes with over twelve minutes of Spanish and fuzzed-out guitar mastery with ‘Angel’. It is a hard album to ignore. Wille and the Bandits is often misspelt as Willie and the Bandits or Willy and the Bandits, but as they freely admit, there's only one “I” in Wille. And there's only one Wille and the Bandits.

Track Listing:-

1 Got To Do Better
2 Gypsy Woman
3 Try To Be Yourself
4 Under the Grove
5 Butterfly For a Day
6 Still Go Marching In
7 Why'd You Do It
8 Son of the Gun
9 Keep Moving On
10 Forgiveness
11 Angel