Sal Vitro: This Thing Of Ours E.P
“This thing of ours” is the debut E.P from Dublin lads Sal Vitro. The band are an edgy 4 piece outfit who’s music can be described as pure rock n roll mixed with some funk/blues style guitar riffs and raw vocals.
I once saw Sal Vitro at a gig in Naas before, so when this record came in I was really looking forward to seeing if their live performance could translate just as good on record, and after 30 seconds into the first track “Swear by your love” I knew I wasn’t going to be disappointed. The track opens up with a bluesy Rory Gallagher style guitar riff before breaking into a funky chords progression backed by some fast and trashy drumming which gives the track that raw rock n roll feel. The vocals also suit this style of music perfectly. Singer Josh Dunford was obviously born to sing in a rock n roll band. The chorus simply uses the lyrics “swear by your love” with a led zeppelin style riff kicking in between each line and his voice really does top it off and make this E.P bad ass enough without even moving to the second track.
Second and last track on the E.P is “Wear it out”. The song opens with some lovely distorted chords ringing with a delay/reverb effect and Dunfords vocals softly singing the line “Don’t you wear me down/please just wear it out”. The song begins to take lift off with a delicious funk riff from guitarist Owie Lumsden before drummer John Cuddy joins in with a groove ridden backing beat that really shows of his technical side and provides a chad smith like rhythm utilising some impressive ghost notes and hi-hat barks. A true funk riff and beat is nothing without a bass line and Gerald Caulfield certainly doesn’t let it down with a tasty bass line that follows suit from the guitar rhythm and completes the song with that deep sounding bass tone.
Ultimately I think that most bands find influence when they pick up and instrument from the classic rock n roll/blues/Jimi Hendrix and the like, but then eventually they find themselves forming into whatever’s in at the moment and not really sticking to what it was that made them want to play in the first place. With Sal Vitro that’s not the case. They didn’t care what was in or whether it was too generic to be a good old fashioned rock band these days, they just wanted to play some good music that they liked and others will. They pull it off to no end so if you’re a fan of blues/rock n roll or whether you realise it’s what got you into music and you want some re-freshing then listen to this
record and get to a show.
“This thing of ours” will be released on the 5th of August with a gig in The Mercantile, Dame Street,Dublin.
Listen to “This thing of ours” here:
This Thing Of Ours by Sal Vitro