Blues-rock seems like the sound of a long-gone era, a genre that today is barely propped up by the slow success of bands like the White Stripes and the Black Keys.
But with the release of the self-titled debut album from 22-20s, the genre may have a new champion.
Named after Delta bluesman Skip James's 22-20 Blues, the 22-20s seem misplaced in their British homeland.
Something about the blues sounds distinctly American, no matter how many British bands in the past have melded the sound seamlessly into their own.
Somehow, 22-20s manage to sound even more American by also incorporating the twang of alt-country into their fervent embrace of primal rock 'n' roll.
The album opens with "Devil in Me," a heart-pumping, aggressive song that prepares you for the passion that fuels what's to follow.
As songwriter/guitarist Martin Trimble proclaims, "I'll never get the devil outside of me," his vocals peppered with dirt.
Anger and exasperation cut through the dust on the accelerating "Such a Fool." Trimble then harnesses his aggravation with the matter-of-fact vocal delivery on the slower "Baby Brings Bad News."
While, musically, 22-20s aren't "bluesy enough" to be considered an unadulterated blues band, the spirit of the genre and what it represents has certainly inhabited the four college-aged Brits.
And, just as a century ago, when the blues swapped spit with folk in the American South, 22-20s' free expression leads them to the acoustic guitar's more country sounds.
"Friends" is the best testament to this meeting-a lazy-afternoon, front-porch ode to friendship that Dylan could have recorded during the Johnson administration.
But before you can forget what's driving the record, the relentless energy comes back in "Why Don't You Do It for Me?" Easily the track on "22-20s" most worthy of the blues-rock distinction, "Why Don't" is the frantic, free-spirited plea of a jealous lover.
With careful consideration to song order, "Why Don't" is juxtaposed with the least blues-influenced track on the album, the fierce "Shoot Your Gun."
Proving that 22-20s have room for bands like the Jesus and Mary Chain, Led Zeppelin, the Velvet Underground and David Bowie in their record collection among Muddy Waters and the Rolling Stones, "Shoot Your Gun" hints at hard rock, glam, psychedelia, noise and punk.
The calmer "The Things That Lovers Do" serves as a chaser to the rough double shot of "Why Don't" and "Shoot Your Gun." The melancholy vocals blend with a hazy guitar and Glen Bartup's bleary bass as Trimble laments a love that just isn't meant to be.
The frustrations of love and life, subjects long examined in blues and really in all music, become "22-20s" leitmotifs.
Varying back and forth between controlled passion and bursting aggression, "22-20s" serves as both a chance to blow off steam and reflect on emotion.
"I'm the One" is on the controlled side of the spectrum, a tension-building track that leads right into the ominous trap of "Hold On," driven by sinister-sounding effects and James Irving's methodical drumming.
Keyboardist Charly Coombes, a late edition to the band, earns his position on "Baby, You're Not In Love," a surprisingly pretty end to an otherwise gritty album.
Trimble's hoarse vocals seem almost buoyant against Coombes' sweet piano.
The debut album from 22-20s is an album of frustration. Not just frustration with life's many trials and love's many pitfalls, but frustration with the leisure-class hipster mentality prevalent in the post-punk of bands overpopulating the pages of music magazine NME.
Backed by a passion for the sounds of a more innocent time in America (and in rock 'n' roll), the four Brits cultivate this frustration into a musical sentiment that manages to recall a specific time and place, while concurrently seeming modern and universal.
