MUSIC

Fleece, Bristol (Sun 23 Oct)

The huge cheer that greets Fighting Wolves' announcement of their last song is heartening for two reasons. Firstly, it signals an end to their mediocre brand of sub-Therapy? riff 'n' shout. Secondly, it proves that people really do listen to specialist rock radio, which has been playing 'One Minute More' to death. It's their one good(ish) song, and everyone knows the words. Who mentioned Stiltskin?

After Thunder split, the challenge facing guitarist Luke Morley was how the hell to replace Danny Bowes – the greatest hard rock singer this country has produced in the last 20 years. Well, he certainly lucked out with the huge, expressive voice of twentysomething Peter Shoulder, who, as the PR folks never tire of reminding us, is only the third Brit after Eric Clapton and Peter Green to win some swanky US blues award. The expected influx of our tankard-wielding beardy blues brethren has yet to materialise, but the Thunder faithful are out in force at the Fleece. With a second album just released, there's no need to pad the set out with covers any more, and it's a measure of The Union's confidence that they kick off with their best-known song, 'Watch the River Flow' – a prime slice of Thunder-esque swagger that initially suggested Morley intended to pick up where he left off. But Shoulder – resplendent tonight in a waistcoat and what resembles a Poundstretcher edition of one of Slash's top hats – has clearly broadened the songwriting palette, bringing a dash of Americana to the table, albeit with a hard rock edge rather than the indie-weedy variety favoured by critics. 'Black Monday' is a delicious slice of heavy Louisiana blues; the lovely acoustic 'Come Rain, Come Shine', which cries out for a bit of delicate banjo picking, could be The Jayhawks – or, at a push, The Byrds; and tough working-class recession blues 'Easy Street' paints a topical picture of final demands and threats of repossession, the despairing singalong chorus "What we gonna do when the money runs out?" making it a potential pan-European anthem. Perhaps surprisingly, Morley cedes many of the guitar solos to his new partner too, but this is clearly a collaboration that has paid rich dividends for both of them. It's already eclipsed Shoulder's previous band, Winterville, and could yet result in the likes of me managing to write a review without mentioning the T-word. (Robin Askew)

Copyright Robin Askew 2011