Considering No Sinner’s Colleen Rennison is a former child actor, it’s natural to wonder whether she’s inhabiting a role when behind the microphone. ‘Boo Hoo Hoo’, the band’s promising debut, certainly showcased her considerable skills as a vocalist, but ‘Old Habits Die Hard’ comes on like a double-barrelled blast of commitment to music, its electrifying rock ‘n’ soul proof that this leading lady means business.
More cohesive, muscular and worldly than its predecessor, this effort is the work of road-hardened musicians who’ve grown individually and collectively, resulting in a barn-burning salvo of classic rock ‘n’ roll that swings between a hard living night on the town and the following morning’s hungover recriminations. Or, as Rennison said when comparing it to their debut: “It’s like the difference between your high school grad photo and your first mug shot.”
Leadfoot’s dual guitar and harmonica lines propel a pounding track where film noir atmospherics soundtrack two black sheep on a death-or-glory rampage, while Saturday Night – imagine Janis Joplin fronting early AC/DC – is a raucous party.
The comedown, on the other hand, is superlative and soulful, with Hollow’s post-relationship emptiness channelling Amy Winehouse and Lines On The Highway resembling a poignant montage of Americana-tinted reflection.
There’s no denying that No Sinner Rennison’s baby. Her astonishing vocals – think Joplin possessed by Robert Plant - and spunky showmanship are the main attraction, while the group’s handle is also her surname backwards. But although she’s now fronting a completely different line-up of the group, this long delayed release was written and recorded by the previous incarnation and feels more like the work of a proper band.
Where Rennison’s ability overshadowed the ensemble last time out, here they’ve upped their game to match her A-list dynamism, capturing the singer’s ballsy persona on a cover of Cheryl Dilcher’s All Woman - via a walloping Led Zeppelin makeover - and bringing an unpredictability throughout as tempo shifts, key changes and unexpected turns keep the excitement in the red.
When The Bells Ring – behold its staggeringly impassioned chorus – trundles away on a tidy Beatles rhythm before storming the barricades with an explosive finale, while Fading Away’s looping groove finds T-Rex going disco. Tryin’ is simply stunning. With a rolling Sweet Home Alabama gait it breezes along on mellifluous charm until a nasty slide burst embodies self destructive demons.
A special mention must go to guitarist Eric Campbell. On ‘Boo Hoo Hoo’ he sounded somewhat detached, performing material he didn’t write and seemingly overplaying to entertain himself. Every song here bears his signature and he puts in a colossal turn, bringing versatility, killer riffs and an instinctive ability to weave around Rennision. His swampy delta drawl on Mandy Lyn, meanwhile, is as dark and sludgy as an alligator pit being sucked through a black hole.
From producer Ben Kaplan’s exceptional presentation to the hunger and attitude coursing each track, this is the sound of a band charging through the tightly-bolted door that keeps rock ‘n’ roll from the masses with twin firearms blazing. If ‘Boo Hoo Hoo’ was a charming home movie, ‘Old Habits Die Hard’ is a cool-as-fuck flick hurtling down the highway, middle finger raised.
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