CD: “A Drop In The Ocean” by The Whitley Lake Band

Locally based musicians Richie Adams and Martin Ramsey have played in several bands over the years, with a number of notable outfits including Hoffman Sloth, The Sabres and the experimental Dirty Shingles. The band have recently recruited bassist Luke Parnell and formed a new band named after a local area in Poole called Whitley Lake. The two are now living a pebbles throw away from the location in Sandbanks near Poole, it was here that fresh music inspiration arrived.

Jamming on the sands of a bay overlooking the picturesque Whitley Lake, the original intention was to be initially a 2-piece band producing some laid back jammed vibes. The Butchers Dog (Ashley Cross) gave them a chance to play the beer garden one Summer evening, as soon as this first gig came to an end there was no mistaking the underlying energy from the experience made in the previous bands. With the next gig, the amps and drum kit got bigger, and before they knew it they’d played a headline show at the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Ashley Cross street party.

The new outfit have recorded eleven songs over the Winter of 2023/24 at Basement Studios in Wimborne, which has become their debut album, “A Drop In The Ocean”. An eclectic mix of songs born from a wide range of musical genres; blended together with sing along choruses, thumping beats, riffs, jams and breakdowns; the album encapsulates the journey of unexpected new beginnings and was the band’s therapy to deal with everything life threw at them over a couple of years.

The songs were all played live at Basement Studios and the Bass and Drum tracks are from those live recordings. Guitars from “Surf Jam”, “Too Much Pressure” and “Say Goodbye” solo’s were kept from the original live takes. The rest of the guitars were recorded at Richie’s home studio during December and once these were complete, the band returned to Basement Studios to record the vocals in early 2024. Mixing was undertaken throughout the rest of Winter and the album was completed in late Spring.

The band are traditionalists and it’s great to see them keeping to the very rudiments of Rock n’ Roll to bring together their creations. In this day & age musicians are trying to stretch the boundaries of Rock, sometimes for better and sometimes for worse. This trio keep it simple and get the most out of the skills that they have developed throughout their musical careers. Kicking off with “Say Goodbye”, a no nonsense Blues/Rock piece with plenty of instrumental twists and turns along with some fine clear unmeshed vocals from Richie. With a drum intro that reminds me a little of “Antmusic”, a little giggle by Richie and totally infectious guitar loop, along with a rip-roaring solo. The band show their hand with a song that shows the full force of the band’s energy from when they play live.

With several turns of the radio dial, we fall on “Bad Time To Fall in Love” – one of the strongest tracks of this collection. Of course this is an album for guitar lovers and each time Richie wields has faithful Fender Strat we are treated to some impressive guitar work that beautifully ebbs and flows. “Find My Way Home” slows things down with Martin’s constant toe-tapping percussion, together with a rolling guitar riff along with Allman Brothers-style guitar solo.

The “Interlude” gives us time to take a break and sit on the porch in the old rocking chair, pulling out a few Blues riffs on the acoustic guitar. “Trying” brings us back in the room with the band going off on another Rock journey that shows the full extent of the bands creativity, energy and power.

With some Whitley Lake saltwater-encrusted nautical vibes, we take a trip back into the 1950’s with some Dick Dale-influenced atmospheric Surf Rock. Still in the time machine we take a trip back to 2012 to The Sabres album “Escaping Extinction” and the band borrow one of their older tracks “Last Thing On My Mind”. It’s quite a departure from the heavier tunes with smoulderingly impressive reworking that certainly hits the spot and is a most welcome addition to this collection.

With a snarling intro and a song that gathers momentum as it goes, “Getting Out of Hell” is an accountable lyrical gem “I didn’t wanna to save my money, spending it on a girl named Honey”. Richie’s vocal performance here is certainly one to savour, along with the songs sentiment, one we can all equate to.

It’s back to the Blues club for “Too Much Pressure”; not a cover of The Selector classic but with Blues characteristic chord progressions with walking bass, shuffle rhythms and a fine guitar solo with equal bursts of harmony and melodies. For the band’s explosive ending we are treated to a tune called “Dynamite” straight out of “Wile e Coyote Acme” box of tricks. This animated piece fires bursts of creative instrumentation, at over five minutes it’s the longest track of this collection with so much to enjoy. With 10 ‘all killer, no filler’ tracks this collection comes with a recommendation to listen to them many times to get the most out of it and oh – make sure the volume is turned up to eleven!

Track-Listing
Say Goodbye
2 Weeks
Bad Time To Fall In Love
Find My Way Home
Interlude
Trying
Surf Jam
Last Thing On My Mind
Getting Out Of Hell
Too Much Pressure
Dynamite

The Whitley Lake Band are
Martin Ramsay – Drums
Richie Adams – Guitar/Vocals
Luke Parnell – Bass

Links
https://thewhitleylakeband.net
https://www.facebook.com/TheWhitleyLakeBand
Review by Dave (Chinners) Chinery