Don’t get overexcited by the name, we’re family friendly – it’s just the debut EP from Tennessee quartet Naked Gypsy Queens.

Release Date: 11th February 2022

Label: Mascot Label Group

Format: digital / LP

You simply can’t beat some heavy Blues-soaked Hard Rock. IMHO as they say. Shades of Rival Sons, Aerosmith, The Black Crowes and all who loiter around that particular ballpark looking cool and elegantly wasted. Those classic tropes of electric amplified blues, razor-sharp riffs and cool grooves led by two lead guitars, Georgiana is inspired by those Hard Rock pioneers from the 1960s and ’70s to whom we owe so much.

A quartet that has some history, Naked Gypsy Queens formed while they were all still in high school, following the traditional, tried and tested route of plugging in, tuning up and playing. Focussed on the goal “to become the baddest live band around,” the attitude and swagger of their increasingly acclaimed stage shows get captured on tape (or the digital equivalent) on Georgiana. Recorded in Detroit, working with studio veterans Marlon Young, Al Sutton, and Herschel Boone, the five tracks (plus a bonus live cut) went down in a series of live takes. No surprise at all in that work ethic.

Kicking off with the vital combo of Georgiana itself and the soundtrack on the one way street to Hell, Down To The Devil, the hooks and the irresistible riffs pull you in from the get-go. The former rips it up with the main swing of the stop-start riff accompanied by some wailing bottleneck and a frenzied mid-song wig out. Meanwhile, “She gonna kill you dead,” goes the clarion call of Strawberry Blonde #24. Possibly, I’ll wager, a tribute to some femme fatale or other. The sort of ligger who might inhabit the NGQ gigs, smiling seductively at the boys in the band.

With Wolves, there’s a focus on space. Oozing a funky atmosphere and typically impassioned vocal the guitars take over and battle against the vocal to see who can hit the greatest heights. If Your Name’s New York (Then Mine’s Amsterdam) provides some repsite, slowing things down with stripped-back acoustic strumming leading the way. The expectancy of a sudden burst into a searing electric deadline eventually kicks in

A finale comes with the bonus of a live version of the belting title track. Cranking out the mighty riff one more time for good measureit’s a kick in the ass to remind us to remember the name – Naked Gypsy Queens – the jury wouldn’t need long to find them guilty of carrying the torch/keeping the flame burning for old-school Hard Rock in the 21st century. If the name doesn’t grab you, the music will.

Here’s the latest single, Down To The Devil:

Naked Gypsy Queens online : Website / Facebook / Twitter / Instagram / Youtube

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