Little Barrie ‘King of the Waves’

Words by Audra Tracy

America has Parker Griggs of Radio Moscow to revive that classic rock rumble, but, across the Atlantic, they have (Little) Barrie Cadogan. Together Cadogan (guitar/vocals), Lewis Wharton (bass/vocals), and Virgil Howe (drums/vocals) bring you King of the Waves, Little Barrie‘s first album in over four years. The record was released in the UK last summer, and it’s finally reached American shores for your turntable’s delight.

From the start, Waves swells with sounds from the British Invasion. ‘Surf Hell’ gets all up in your face from the get-go by channeling that garage rock snarl of The Who or The Kinks. Wharton supplies Cream-y bass-lines that would make even Jack Bruce blush on ‘Does Halo Rust?’, while Little Barrie’s newest member Virgil Howe (son of Yes guitarist Steve Howe) makes his presence known with relentless rim-tapping on tracks like ‘Now We’re Nowhere’.

Cadogan’s riffs can occupy eardrums for days, but the boy’s got soul, too. Like, enough soul to spend early 2012 on tour with Charles Bradley. The velvety vocals on ‘Precious Pressure’, prove this end, as does ‘New Diamond Love’, a song that’s so drunk on funk that it’s almost a rock n roll remix of War’s ‘Spill the Wine’.

We’re still burning a candle for vintage rock n soul, and if you are too, light it up with King of the Waves.