At this point in time, any two-piece peddling lo-fi blues rock is going to find themselves compared to the White Stripes and the Black Keys, and The Bonnevilles are no different.
But their sound is so wonderfully musty and distorted, it’s as if Jack and Meg had returned to their lock-up for the first time since their split to discover their amps almost completely devoured by moths.
Andrew McGibbon Jr (guitar/ vocals) and Chris McMullan (drums) are from Lurgan, Northern Ireland, but at heart they’re American. From the punky blues-rock clatter of The Electric Company and the slight, acoustic, last-meal lament of Eggs And Bread to the evocative Western instrumental Erotica Laguna Lurgana and the filthy howl of Learning To Cope, it’s a cultural exchange programme they pull off with panache.
It may sag a little in the middle, but when The Bonnevilles go full steam ahead, they’ll take you on a night out guaranteed to leave a layer of scum under your fingernails.
