Piston – Playin With Fire EP

It’s great hearing about bands because they follow you on Twitter or Facebook and throw their material at you. You seem sceptical at first but it soon becomes apparent that some bands really do have something special, and that’s what I discovered with Piston. I came across this Midlands 5 piece many months ago. They have been busy slowly getting their songs together for this EP, and I have heard a couple of the tracks during different stages as it was all moving along.

Opening track “Dark Angel” starts off with one of the most classic of rock riffs (think Deep Purple) and then develops into something meatier with thunderous drumming rhythms from drummer Brad Newlands and faster hard rock riffs as it moves along. This kind of reminds me of The Cult in places here, but with a more classic feel to it.
“A Hand in Yours” has a chugging bass to start with and the riffs get even heavier again. There is a nice break where things quieten down a bit and we get to hear some quality gentle vocals from vocalist Steve Nunn. Its hard to put a finger on it but Piston do manage to have this Heavy riff sound but still manage to make it sound classic.

Third song “Playin With Fire” is pure classic rock and certainly gives a huge nod to the likes of Whitesnake with super vocals again from Steve Nunn, who might I add has a rich quality and tone to his voice. A slightly deeper sounding David Coverdale wouldn’t be far off the mark here! Monstrous riffs also feature from the guitars. This song was my favourite on this EP and one that I’m sure that will get played over and over again.
“Misery” has us back with heavy rocking riffs, which points us slightly towards AC/DC territory and the glam hair metal bands of the eighties. (Poison anyone?) Piston finish off with a cover here, and what a cover it is of Creedance Clearwater Revival’s “Proud Mary”. It is a fantastic version with great heavy rock and roll hooks. After the first few lines, it all sounds slightly faster and heavier than the CCR version of this song, and has you moving along with its infectious groove. It was a nice way to end the EP.

To sum up Piston’s “Playin With Fire” EP is just full of balls to the wall dirty, bluesy, heavy rocking riffs. Fantastic guitar grooves and melodies that have you hooked, with nice tight rhythms and super drumming. Sounding much in the vein of bands such as Guns and Roses, Million$Reload, Black Stone Cherry etc. but throwing a classic feel into the mix, as well as a sprinkling of Glam for some good measure. You couldn’t ask for much more from this bands first offering, and already this has me waiting eagerly to hear a full length album, and to go see them perform live at some point in the near future.

Track Listing
1. Dark Angel
2. A Hand In Yours
3. Playin With Fire
4. Misery
5. Proud Mary

Piston – Playin With Fire EP is available on iTunes

Piston are:
Steve Nunn – Vocals
Jack Edwards – Guitars
Luke Allat – Guitars
Stuart Egan – Bass
Brad Newlands – Drums

Visit Piston at:
www.facebook.com/PistonUK
twitter.com/PistonMusic
www.reverbnation.com/pistonuk
www.youtube.com/pistonband