Felix Rabin, whose tongue-in-cheek EP cover belies the excellence of his music, is a French guitarist who has spent a good number of his 24 years honing his skills to the point that, at the start of the year, he was crowned “Best Act” at the Giants of Rock festival, earning a main stage slot for 2021 in the process. Heavily influenced by the likes of Jimi Hendrix, Pink Floyd and Gary Clarke Jr., Felix, who goes by the nickname Pogboy, teamed up with legendary recording engineer Ross Hogarth (Van Halen, Ziggy Marley and REM) to record his debut EP, a six-track monster that showcases the range of influences Felix has incorporated into his playing.
The EP gets off to a cracking start with Walk, a dense, heavy rocking number with a huge riff and more than a whiff of patchouli about it, thanks to Felix’s hazy, psychedelic vocal. A bright start to the EP, it’s the little details that capture the imagination, from the heavily tremoloed verse riff to the way the vocals explode into gleaming harmonies on the chorus and, if this is your first exposure to Felix Rabin, you’re likely to be hooked by the time the track comes crashing down in a storm of feedback. Slowing the pace, Felix lets his blues influences out to play on the Clapton-esque Moving On. Nailed by Niccolo Rebecchi’s taut beat, Moving On sees Felix deploy his lead work sensitively over a track that shimmers with a sense of slight regret, tempered by a sense of hope provided by the deftly-deployed horn section of Mark Pender & Joe Sublett. An airy track that showcases Ross’ amazing mix, Moving On is a very different beast from the opening track, but it’s no less captivating. The horn-soaked Say (You Won’t Leave Me) turns out to be a tough blues with a funky strut that draws on the likes of Freddie King and Gary Clarke Jr., and it’s a delight to hear the band swing over Felix’s stabbing riff, before exploding into a grandstanding chorus that threatens to tear the roof right off.
A slow-paced track, Angels is awash with unrequited lust, Felix deploying his lascivious lead work with barely restrained glee. It’s a cool track, but it pales in comparison to what follows. The EP’s longest track, the Floyd-esque Death is an eight-minute piece that recalls the anaesthetised majesty of Comfortably Numb. A track that stands in thrall to the liquid lead guitar of David Gilmour, it swells to an epic climax and, if it walks a path well-traveled, it still makes for a hell of an impressive listen. An emotionally charged highlight, Death offers a tantalising promise of what’s yet to come, and it’s bound to be a showstopper when deployed on stage. The EP concludes with another sparkling track in the form of the horn-soaked Gone, the band cutting loose with a sense of abandon that is entirely irresistible. It brings the EP to a fine conclusion and, most crucially, leaves the listener absolutely desperate for more.
An outstanding guitarist, but not one to showboat, Felix Rabin spends his debut EP putting the song first, and the result is a collection of songs that are both memorable and exciting. There’s real musicianship on display from the whole band, and the horn section is an unexpected and most welcome addition to the ensemble that brightens the sound and further helps Pogboy to stand out. Debut EP of the year? You’d be mad to bet against it… 9/10
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