Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Artist: Estrella
Label: Self-released
Released: 2012
Length: 57:52
Rating: 3.5/5
Estrella, Scottish hard rockers, gave birth to their studio debut »Come Out To Play« in 2012. The band, formed in the Scottish town of Thurso in 2004, moved to Aberdeen after a year together. The band’s Romance-language name comes from a story: the lads were watching the film »Rock Star« with Spanish subtitles and, without too much head-scratching, quickly figured out that the word »star« is »estrella« in Spanish, which apparently sounded very homey to them.
After the debut came out, Estrella went on quite a few interesting tours. One with the British metal hopefuls Furyon, another with Robin Beck, and in 2013 with House Of Lords. That means the debut kicked up enough dust, because it didn’t just catch the eye of a wider audience, but also of renowned acts, A&R people and bookers. The answer lies in the convincing content of the studio debut!
Even though it’s a debut, the material makes it clear that Estrella have long since stopped being greenhorns. These are musicians who’ve already racked up some mileage. The debut went through a longer gestation. It combines interesting influences from several hard rock acts of the eighties and even the seventies. At times the band fuses raw rock ‘n’ roll energy, even the rhetorical punch of the blues, with the tricks of melodic rock and even AOR, with incredible effectiveness. That’s actually their trademark. Melodic catchiness crossed with raw rock energy throws the doors wide open to the crowd.
The quartet is built on no fewer than three brothers! Paul, Luke and Nathan Gunn! The fourth member is drummer Leo J. McPherson, with whom the lineup solidified in 2010, and that’s when the lads finally turned their forces to recording a studio debut. They were also noticed by the legendary keyboardist and producer John T. Sinclair. The man played in the eighties with, among others, Uriah Heep and Ozzy Osbourne. His mentoring touch can be felt on the album. Sinclair played a very important role in the making of this record. His typical moves are easy to feel and hear. The man came up with some excellent arrangement solutions that gave the guys’ ideas extra added value on the album and let them grow in character.
Estrella have come up with some outstanding riffs that stand out on individual tracks. Quite a few songs are graced by an excellent dynamic flow, the fruit of a balanced marriage of catchy melodic hooks with primal rock sharpness. The opening stretch of the album confirms it right away, with the run of Chance Of A Lifetime, Come Out To Play and Party. It’s an opening hedonistic rock ‘n’ roll march, where Sinclair, with his keyboard arrangements, draws some possible parallels with The Who of the seventies (Chance Of A Lifetime, Come Out To Play). After the adrenaline rush of the first three tracks comes a very interesting song on the album, titled Mona Lisa Smile. It’s built on solutions of complete minimalism, which, put together, work damn well. Most of the background is filled by keyboards (imitating a string orchestra), balanced in contrast by a pronounced backbone of a puffed-up snare drum, while the guitar paints the rhythm with just a few notes. Cunning, yet full-blooded. Next comes an effective jump in mood from a sophisticated verse into a feisty chorus, where the guitar phrase wakes up with real volume. The song gains a mischievous, teasing edge, with which the lads set about winding up the girls. A song meant for the spring awakening, when all sorts of flowers willingly open up. This kind and that. Imagination knows no limits. The other song that demands more sophistication is Last Mohican. It’s a dramatic number, as its title already hints. The same arrangement tricks of coloring through contrast as in Mona Lisa Smile are on display here too, and once again Paul’s vocal proves its worth, strong even when he takes the verses in just the natural color of his voice (without adding any grit). It’s precisely these two »softer« songs, thanks also to Paul’s emotional investment, that are the album’s two peaks.
You can’t skip Shout (I Wanna Hear) and, right on its tail, I’d Give It All. Sinclair worked synth tricks into both of them, packing in the sonic characteristics of the eighties! The choruses in particular evoke the sonic and arrangement feel of the Uriah Heep albums »Abominog« and/or »Head First«. That feeling is deepened, combined with the synth curtains, by the perfected harmonies of the vocal lines in the choruses. Bombastic!
Do It Til’ We Drop is another excursion into the eighties production files. A deeply reverbed, cannon-like snare drum and a raw guitar riff above it. The track is as rowdy as can be. Rocker Lily evokes the feel of past Def Leppard songwriting. The bluesy, heavy What You See teases with its associations with Tesla! It starts out in an »unplugged« setup, later going »electric«. Besides the mocking riff, one of the »culprits« for such an association is also Paul, with his extremely piercing vocal in the verse. The acoustic Don’t Forget Me is a superfluous move and it’s good that it sits at the tail end of the album. At best it belongs on an album played entirely in an »unplugged« flavor.
The album has a flaw in its sound production. On most songs the snare drum sounds too thin, with the exception of the three songs already mentioned, where it’s deliberately cranked up. Going forward, the low end needs to be brought out more clearly and the sonic picture filled out there too. The other little problem is Paul’s vocal, which isn’t as convincing in the highest ranges. That gets exposed pretty quickly on the title track. He has a harder time pulling off the top registers, and in the future he’ll have to pay attention to adapting the lines so they sound convincing across the whole release. Otherwise, as mentioned, Paul’s strength lies in the natural color of his voice, which he can use to good effect in rock-possessed songs on future albums too.
The band plays excellently otherwise. Among the instrumentalists, Luke Gunn definitely stands out. He served up some truly distinctive guitar riffs, as well as cleverly shaped guitar solos and transitional ornaments. He’s got no shortage of dynamite and his ideas fill the available space in the songs superbly. He never “overdoses” ! The mix of notes in the solos is concise and serves to maintain the dynamics, melody and compactness of the songs.
The album carries a distinct dose of drama theater, a touch of island cynicism and a sprinkle of black humor. It’s a typical representative of the island school of hard rock! As a debut, »Come Out To Play« is a very, very solid effort. Some points stand out in their arrangement ideas, and they grab your attention to the point where it’s clear we’re dealing with an extremely talented band that can deliver much, much more in the future in the way of decisive, rock-sharp tracks, marked by the band’s refined feeling for developing musicality. Estrella do share some sonic kinship with eighties bands, but in these new times they sound distinctive enough that we can call them a band committed to building on a character of their own. »Come Out To Play« therefore shows exceptional room for growth, but also still a bit of reserve. Above all, the next album will need to pay more attention to »thickening« the sonic picture, and there are at least three songs on the album that the band could have saved up its sleeve, to ripen into something even more exemplary over time.
Lineup
Paul Gunn – vocals, backing vocals
Luke Gunn – guitar, backing vocals
Nathan T. Gunn – bass guitar, backing vocals
Leo J. McPherson – drums
GUEST MUSICIAN:
John T. Sinclair – keyboards
Production
John T. Sinclair
Track list
1. Chance of a Lifetime
2. Come Out to Play
3. Party
4. Mona Lisa Smile
5. Shout (I Wanna Hear You)
6. Do It Til’ We Drop
7. One Love
8. Rocker Lily
9. She’s Got It
10. Last Mohican
11. Whatever It Is
12. What You See
13. I’d Give It All
14. Don’t Forget Me
