Amends - Tales Of Love, Loss, And Outlaws album review
"It’s impressive, the dexterity with which the band play into the smokiness and sleaze of their Southern influences..."
AMENDS
Tales Of Love, Loss, And Outlaws
RESIST
Meddling fierce emotional strain with raw, whiskeyed angst à la belting blues-rock riffs, Amends hit a staunch ream of jaw-dropping highs on the suitably titled Tales Of Love, Loss, And Outlaws. It’s impressive, the dexterity with which the band play into the smokiness and sleaze of their Southern influences – hadn’t we known any better, we’d swear these Western Sydney vagabonds were hard-worn Nashville lifers.
The tense emo slick they pierce it with fits unyieldingly, too, injecting into the mix a pertinent sense of umbrage and despair that makes their songs infinitely more impactful. Top-loaded with hits, our choice pick is the Laura Jane Grace-starring “Walking Backwards”, a barnyard banger carried by bold and balmy semi-hollow jutting, roaring harmonicas and deeply emotive, duelling vocals.
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Ellie Robinson is an Australian writer, editor and dog enthusiast with a keen ear for pop-rock and a keen tongue for actual Pop Rocks. Her bylines include music rag staples like NME, BLUNT, Mixdown and, of course, Australian Guitar (where she also serves as Editor-at-Large), but also less expected fare like TV Soap and Snowboarding Australia. Her go-to guitar is a Fender Player Tele, which, controversially, she only picked up after she'd joined the team at Australian Guitar. Before then, Ellie was a keyboardist – thankfully, the AG crew helped her see the light…