When you have two major weapons in your arsenal you’d be a damn fool not to use them right from the get go, which is exactly what Earthprayer do within seconds of debut Nine Days kicking off.
With a groovy, driving riff Civil War nails you to the spot, while vocalist Heidi Jo Hines unleashes a voice that’s both spine-tinglingly powerful and sublimely soulful.
With Hines’s steel-and-velvet vocals harnessed to guitarist Ian Montlake’s equally deft and skilful songwriting, this economical debut hits the spot over and over with a welter of riffs and memorable choruses.
From the gently acoustic and lilting Breakdown to strident rockers such as Ain’t Nothing and the rambunctious boogie of closer I Can See The Second Sun, Earthprayer mine that classic blues-rock seam for all its worth and rarely put a foot wrong. Roll on number two.
