Out Now: Five Points Gang - ‘Wanted’

Five Points Gang - ‘Wanted’

Released on Lunaria Records — September 24th, 2021

ALL SONGS WRITTEN BY FIVE POINTS GANG
BAND LINE-UP
JOE PEARSON — VOCALS, GUITAR
DINHO BARRAL — BASS GUITAR, VOCALS
GAET ALLARD — DRUMS, VOCALS
ADDITIONAL MUSICIANS
CHRIS RAND — HAMMOND B3, SAXOPHONES
JULIEN BARANESS — GUITAR, VOCALS

‘Wanted’ is the debut album from London based band, Five Points Gang.
Although relatively new to the scene, they are already making a big impression.
Since releasing their live album back in 2019, this power-house trio have developed
and crafted a sound which stands them apart from the customary blues-rock
releases of today.
Totalling 13 tracks, this album is a hefty collection of hits, and they’ve made sure
not to leave anything out - there’s something for everyone.
The album will be released by Lunaria Records on Friday 24th September, 2021
The first single ‘How Long’ is due for release on Friday 3rd September, 2021

PRESS RELEASE!
‘Wanted’ chronicles the band, as they navigate through life, love, and important social
issues. This album is a milestone for the band, in many ways; a proud achievement, and a
consolidation of a lot of hard work.
“This album represents the first time I’ve been truthful on a recording,” reflects guitarist
and vocalist Joe Pearson. “I started playing guitar 29 years ago, and I feel that this album
finally achieves the ambitions I had as an 8 year old.”
Five Points Gang began life in early 2019. After jamming at a rehearsal studio in Notting
Hill, the band formed around the nucleus of guitarist and vocalist, Joe Pearson and bassist
Dinho Barral. Pearson had just recently relocated to London from South Wales, and Barral
had only been in the city a few weeks, having moved from his home in Brazil. The two
musicians hit it off right from the start, and the mandate was clear — “bring blues into the
21st Century”.

It wasn’t long until the band had accumulated a wealth of original tunes. A live album
“Live at the Premises” was released in 2019, and their diary was starting to fill up with
gigs and festival appearances. The band were booked to do a joint tour with the Mark
Pontin Group, and they had recently won the opportunity of a support slot, through a
Yamaha Music promotion, opening up for Jools Holland at London’s esteemed venue, The
100 Club.
As with many bands, lockdown put the brakes on their plans. But with the absence of live
gigs, they turned their experience of the pandemic into another musical success story. Joe
and Dinho began recording and releasing several “isolation” tracks which featured various
notable artists from the blues scene, including musicians from Dinho’s home town in
Brazil. The tracks soon became popular with the UK blues radio community, and it wasn’t
long before they were being regularly play-listed. One of these recordings featured French
dummer, Gaet Allard. Perhaps this was a possible audition? But whatever the case, he
passed with flying colours and completed the line-up. From there they went into
production mode, and after only a few weeks of writing sessions, they had all the material
they needed for their first album.

“It feels like I’m in a band with two brothers that I never had,” says Joe. “We foster each
other’s creativity, and nothing is off the table when we’re creating new material.”
The album was recorded at the award winning Snap Studios, in London, and the goal was
to capture as much of the band’s live sound as possible. “Our first intention was to capture
what we do in a live situation with our natural sound and personality,” explains Gaet.
“These songs are rooted in blues but we have a natural heavy sound and rock energy
when we play together.”
Using artists such as Eric Clapton, Rival Sons and Philip Sayce as a reference, the band
brought in producer Julien Baraness, who was able to find the perfect balance and bring
an extra special dimension to the mix.
“Julian understood what we were trying to achieve right from the beginning”, explains Joe.
“We really liked his decision to commit to sounds in the studio, rather than relying on postproduction. This appealed to us as it’s an old-school way of thinking and we wanted to cut
a record the way it used to be done.”

The album opens with the funky guitar and driving drums of ‘How Long’. Written after
the atrocious murder of George Floyd, this was the first time the band had written about a
social issue, and making a clear statement about how they felt about it — “How long to
equality?”.
Crunchy guitar and some tasteful feedback provide an into to ‘All in All’ — a four to the
floor rocker. Pearson’s gravely vocals cut across the trio, and the thumping bass line of
Barral provides an element of swing. The band demonstrate their ability to change style on
a dime, going into a reggae one drop towards the end, before launching back into a rowdy
chorus.

“‘Let’s Stay Together’ is special track for me because of the purity of the songwriting,”
recalls Joe. “It’s basically one riff all the way through — there aren’t too many songs
where the verse is essentially the same riff as the chorus.”
The next track has it all: catchy guitar hooks, a sing-along chorus, and even some J.B.
Horns-esque brass — provided by the one-man horn section of Chris Rand. ‘Drifting
Away’ is a funky number, and also features Julien Baraness on guitar, playing a rip-roaring
solo.

“All she said is such a beautiful song that came to us in a very, very inspired day,”
remembers Dinho. “The main riff of the song was sitting in my head for weeks, and on the
first day that Joe and I started writing songs together. I showed it to Joe and in less than
10 minutes he came with some lyrics, we added some stuff together and the song was
done.” With each musician having grown up in separate countries, and coming from different
musical background, it’s no surprise that they approached a blues album in a very unique
way. Joe explains, “Although we never really considered influences when writing this
record, we found ourselves asking each other “what would it sound like if Jamiroquai
played a I IV V?,” or “What if Portishead recorded a slow blues?”
The following two tracks are a more striped back sound, reminding us that this is indeed a
Trio. What Kind of Man and All Points Bulletin represent the band in it’s purest form,
and are full to the brim with tasty guitar hooks and some Hendrix inspired solos — you
can’t help but “Get down with the Five Points Gang”.

The style takes a surprising turn with ‘Deep Inside’. This an anthemic tune, with soul-like
guitar parts and padded choral backing vocals. A far cry from a 12-bar, this is a pop
number which has become a funk power-house.
‘Made Man’ is a pumping, funky bass tune which blows the roof off, Pearson taking no
prisoners with an epic wah-guitar solo. This is a refreshing blend of blues and funk, with
big drum fills and some classy slap bass.
“There’s actually a lot of space in our arrangements, which ultimately creates a bigger
more expansive sound. I think we are incorporating elements into our blues in a different
way,” reflects Pearson. Ones ears are given a brief rest with ‘Love by the Gun’ (the album rock ballad). The vocals are interjected with some clean guitar lines, juxtaposed with a heavy chorus and
padding BV’s. The band manage to create a sense of theatre, before cascading into a freejazz style outro.

‘The Only One' is a dark, menacing, retrospective track. Pearson’s vocals float over the
rock drum beat of Allard. The guitar is left holding the blues fort, then drags the band
kicking and screaming into the chorus. This song is a nod to Nirvana, with the grungy bass
sound and thrashy guitar, giving this track a distinct intensity.
‘The Secret’ is a bouncing, bluesy number. The hooky verse being one of the few 12-bars
on the album. The band stretch out harmonically on the chorus, and fill the sound with
some thick backing vocals and massive drums fills.
The album closes with the atmospheric ‘I See You Now’. Pearson carries the entire vocal
role on this tune. His low, lead vocals making the overall sound much more 90’s rock,
adding a more “indie” vibe. The bass line taking inspiration from bands such as Chilli
Peppers.

This is an immense album that took on the challenge to provide a modern and vibrant
sound to the blues-rock scene. This band have achieved that. Each song is a statement;
the playing is incredibly well executed, and the production sounds expensive!
Five Points Gang are a breath of fresh air an already abounding scene

.
ALBUM TRACK LISTING
1. HOW LONG
2. ALL IN ALL
3. LET’S STAY TOGETHER
4. DRIFTING AWAY
5. ALL SHE SAID
6. WHAT KIND OF MAN
7. ALL POINTS BULLETIN
8. DEEP INSIDE
9. MADE MAN
10. LOVE BY THE GUN
11. THE ONLY ONE
12. THE SECRET
13. I SEE YOU NOW

Social: 

Website: https://www.fivepointsgang.com/ : 

Recensie: https://www.bluestownmusic.nl/recensie-five-points-gang-wanted/