beggars and thieves

we are the brokenhearted

FRONTIERS RECORDS

RELEASED November 2011

Last time I saw Louie Merlino he was onstage with the Sin City Sinners over in Vegas last year. First time I heard of him was way back in the day when Beggars and Thieves released their critically acclaimed but criminally overlooked debut. Beggars and Thieves I always thought suffered from being an American band with a somewhat Anglo-European sound.

Opening track on this long-overdue comeback ‘We Come Undone’ has that anthemic feel to it too that is more European in feel than it is traditional US Eighties hard rock. It’s a damn fine song that makes you speculate about the time between releases for Beggars (who did actually put out a limited edition release at Firefest last year) but prior to that it had been their ‘Look What You Create’ album which like so many other solid albums of the time fell to label problems and the rise of ‘grunge’ and the 1999 ‘The Grey Album’ .

There’s some great rock songs on display here with especially ‘Seven Seconds; but also ‘Innocence’ leading the pack but real highlights come from both ends of the spectrum with ballad: ‘Never Gonna See You Again’, the melodic rock vision that is ‘Stranded‘ and the heartfelt epic ‘Oil and Water’. It’s between that last song and the majestic ‘Wash Away’ for the best of a very good bunch.

Shame it’s been so long this proves that there’s always been plenty of gas in the tank. Guitarist Ronnie Mancuso and vocalist Louie Merlino are in fine form throughout. This is one that you will want to own and if you were there at the start it’s been well worth the wait…

By Jo Rockpit