With just four tracks Sydney’s The Gypsy Bangles manage to transport us back to music’s heyday. Their debut EP Women & Whiskey channels a simpler time, before auto-tuning and sampling. And I love it.
It’s so refreshing to hear the band’s earthy, bluesy sound and rich, raspy vocals. The music is free and spontaneous. You get the sense listening to it that it’s just what you’d hear if The Gypsy Bangles were jamming in front of you.
The EP bursts out of the gate with its title track. It took me to one of the iconic rock festivals of the late 60s with its easy rock groove. It really sets the tone for the disc, and is probably its strongest track. But that shouldn’t take nothing away from the other songs. I particularly love the driving guitars of “Dark Haired Woman,” which are reminiscent of Cream or Deep Purple. “Love and Light” winds down softly, easing us back home to the tenteens or whatever we’re calling it. Thankfully we can always give the disc another spin and return to that world of classic rock The Gypsy Bangles have created.
Physical copies of the disc have sold out, but it will be re-released shortly. Until that time you can hear Women & Whiskey through The Gypsy Bangles Bandcamp page.
Image source: The Gypsy Bangles Bandcamp page