Tracer – ‘El Pistolero’ Album Review

Perhaps it is just that I’ve got jaded as I’ve got older, but it seems there are fewer young bands out there to get excited about and suddenly I find myself bemoaning the state of modern rock music. Oh dear! Fortunately for me, bands like Tracer exist to reaffirm my faith that the future of rock is safe in the hands of youth. Hitting out with their second album ‘El Pistolero’ a mere year and a half after their deservedly well-received debut LP (2011’s ‘Spaces in between’ reviewed here) Tracer have aptly demonstrated that the seemingly endless bouts of touring the band have been engaging in have helped them to develop an even greater confidence and depth of song-writing ability on this hotly anticipated thirteen track LP.

Having produced the last LP themselves (and done a pretty spectacular job), this time round Tracer have handed off duties to Kevin Shirley, a producer who must surely mix records in his sleep such is his seemingly prodigious work rate these days. Sonically that means the band have come out with a record that has a stronger classic-rock vibe than last time out, Kevin giving the songs plenty of space to breathe and soar, and the band themselves could concentrate on developing the music. Musically the comparisons have changed little since last time round with latter-day Soundgarden, Audioslave and Queens of the stone age all heavily influencing the band’s heavy rock assault, and Michael Brown’s voice having taken on even more of that Chris Cornell tone that was so impressive last time out. As such ‘el pistolero’ (as you’ll already have discovered if you’ve checked out the first video from the record) is a powerful, exciting blast of classic rock played with guts and determination by a band still very much on an upward trajectory.

Opening with the album’s title track is very much a statement of intent. A gutsy, heavy blast of rock ‘n’ roll, it enjoys the sort of huge descending riff that QOTSA used to play when Nick Oliveri still played naked with the band and before they got caught up in inviting every celebrity on the planet to guest on each record. ‘Lady killer’ has a groove befitting of its title, the bass a distorted monstrosity churning up the water beneath Michael’s vocals and threatening to induce loss of bowel control in the unwary. The QOTSA influence comes through strongly on the angular groove of ‘dirty little secret’ surely the spiritual cousin of ‘no one knows’ with its taut verse and expansive chorus. Better still is ‘dead garden’ on which Michael demonstrates his versatility and power as a vocalist over a backdrop that recalls Soundgarden in their prime. ‘Ballad of el pistolero’ segues briefly and neatly into the crunchy rock of ‘Santa Cecilia’ which benefits greatly from the multipart harmonies of its chorus and a stripped down verse which has a rich, warm melody that sticks wholeheartedly in your brain. ‘Wolf in cheap clothes’, meanwhile, has a stinging quality and a blistering solo that mixes up the Foo Fighters at their heaviest with the gravitas of Soundgarden for an interesting listen that is both heavy and refreshingly different.

Having more or less played at full-tilt for the first half of the record, the band take a moment to relax the pace a touch with the beautifully elegant ballad ‘scream in silence’ which recalls Audioslave’s ‘I am the highway’ with its gentle, phased verse and hi-octane chorus. ‘Hangman’ is pure stoner rock with an Eastern vibe that makes it sound like QOTSA playing in a Moroccan underground bar with its grinding guitar and odd chord sequences. ‘Manic for ya’ opens with just Michael’s raw vocals over a single beat before the band come crashing in for what is, undoubtedly, the heaviest track on the record. With a whip-taut groove and infectious melody it showcases Tracer at their best and you can imagine the mosh-pit boiling over for this one when the band play live in June. Next up is the funky groove of ‘there’s a man’ which sees the band kick out a jam that carries with it the scent of herbal treats and the long-lost atmosphere of the seventies, only for the song to shift its focus with the track ending up a gruelling blast of pure rock with Michael singing “you can run, you can’t hide…” in a manner that is slightly unnerving. ‘Until the war is won’ is a simple Spaghetti number that sits between Neil Young and Mad Season and then ‘now I ride’ closes the album on a high with a huge chorus once again guaranteeing that Tracer will be imprinted on your brain for weeks to come.

Tracer have once again played a blinder with this album. Whilst their first album was impressive indeed, there is a stronger sense of purpose here, a greater confidence and depth of writing which comes from months of touring the world and seeing the reactions of fans. Kevin Shirley provides his usual, impressive production tricks and know-how and the record flows beautifully over the course of its fifty-odd minute run time. For fans of heavy, well played and memorable rock music this is a must – miss out in tracer at your peril – these boys are going nowhere but up.