To enjoy the bluesy rock ‘n' roll whipped up by Vancouver-based four piece No Sinner, all you really need is a functioning heartbeat. In other words, if you don't find yourself digging their soulful swagger you may be clinically dead.
In recent years, bands like Rival Sons, Black Keys, Beth Hart and the Temperance Movement have reinvigorated the blues and classic rock scene, creating a ready-made market for young hopefuls to conquer. To stand out from this increasingly dense crowd, though, requires something special.
With feisty, emotionally charged songs, splendid musicianship and a world class singer, No Sinner have more than enough to make a big impact in 2014, and from the moment tribal drums usher in the title track on their debut, you know you're in for an enjoyable ride.
Its mixture of rockabilly grooves with soaring rock ‘n' soul vocals makes for a spirited hip-shaking boogie and, although feeling like something from a different time, vocalist Colleen Rennison's impassioned delivery of its narrative, about searching for redemptive love, strikes a contemporary chord.
Rennison has been getting a lot of attention so far and it's easy to see why. Although there's a raw sexuality and explosive bark to her voice that parallels everyone from Janis Joplin, to Tina Turner and Hart, she is merely the latest in a long line of female vocalists whose lineage dates back to the godmother of rock ‘n' roll herself, Sister Rosetta Tharpe.
Much like Tharpe, there's a strong gospel element to Rennison’s tone and stirring projection, particularly on Rise Up. A soothing slow burner, the song builds to a rousing crescendo as Rennison's call to transcend our burdens hits mesmerising heights.
Her range shines on the exceptional light and dark of Love Is A Madness, with a seductive purr during the verses that recalls Dusty Springfield at her most tender, before exploding with a full throated release of latent frustration on the chorus.
This isn't a one woman show though, and while a sizeable chunk of Rennison's persona courses through lyrics about battling everyday demons, she's got a band who give her the perfect canvas to paint her musical pictures.
Particularly impressive is drummer Ian Browne, an endless bag of ideas and fills whose clout and finesse drive each track. Likewise guitarist Eric Campbell, who weaves around Rennison with much invention and fizz. At times he needs to realise less is more, but his crushing riff on the delightfully evil blues of Devil On My Back, claustrophobic ambience during That'd Be The Day and the fact he never plays the obvious lick mark him out as one to watch.
Calling this blues or blues-rock does No Sinner a slight disservice. While that's a starting point, the soulful balladry of If Anything, September Moon's haunting, folky atmospherics and Runnin's bar-room rockin' groove proves there's more to them than that.
A cover of Nina Simone's version of Work Song is the album's centrepiece, with a shattering rhythm hammering away beneath a tale of chain gangs, judges and hard labour. Rennison captures the timeless frustration of being trapped in a life full of hardships before the band cut loose and let rip for a bludgeoning finale.
Although enjoyable, No Sinner are sometimes too reliant on echoing their idols, though. This is a common trait of debut albums, but great bands always move to the next step by developing their own sound. This is an admirable start, now they need to build on it.
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