The Quireboys Wardour Street CD Review

The Hard Rock band, the Quireboys unleashed a new album late in 2024. I’d known it was coming but I took a break from following the band on their socials due to in-fighting and fans on each side bitching about who was right and who was wrong. Long story short, band members who weren’t original and were nothing more than hired hands threw a mutiny and fired founding member and vocalist, Spike. You don’t need to do any research on the matter, it didn’t last long. Nobody is interested in the Quireboys without Spike! While getting sacked from the band he started was crummy, Spike put the original band back together the best he could. Guitarist Guy Bailey and Spike would immediately start writing and fleshing out songs for a new album. Sadly, Bailey passed away in 2023, yet Spike and the band carried on bringing us this new album.
 
This new effort is entitled “Wardour Street” and if you’re familiar at all with the Quireboys debut, “A Little Bit of What You Fancy”, you know exactly what we’re looking at here. There’s a ton of Rock N’ Roll like the early Stones recordings from the 70’s. And Spike’s voice is in top form, he’s always reminded me of Rod Stewart, so I’m always reminded of the Faces.

On “Wardour Street” Spike and the band have dialed it back to a time where this kind of music was everything and everyone felt it. The track “Jeeze Louise” gives off a mix of Faster Pussycat and Exile era Stones vibes. Strangely, the melody in this tune reminds me of Taime Downe’s performance on FP’s debut album. Moving on with the Stones vibes the band hits us with the track “Happy” which is another of those tunes that could’ve been a deep cut on the “Exile from Mainstreet” demos. “Raining Whiskey” is a duet with Frankie Miller and it drips with Sleaze and heartbreak, I’m feeling it, and it makes me want to have a liquor drank and a smoke in the dark corner of a dive bar. Spike is a notable fan of Miller as he released a cover album of some of his favorite Miller tracks a few years back, so his involvement here isn’t shocking. Never a band to shy away from ballads/heartfelt moments, this album features a few of those types of tunes – “Myrtle Beach”, “You and I” and “It Ain’t Over Now”. I’m crazy for songs like this specifically on Quireboys albums - Spike’s smoky voice gets up close and personal with the listener and you feel every word he’s singing. I also appreciate that none of these songs are big power ballads so there’s no cheesy moments where you lose sight of the meaning of the lyrics.
 
Once more the Quireboys have restored glory to their name and have released one of their best efforts in the last 20 years with “Wardour Street”. You can hear the happiness of each member in how they approach their instruments in every one of these songs. The album’s production value is fantastic, and it’s recorded beautifully. Had I gotten this one earlier, it certainly would’ve been in my top ten releases of 2024. The album has been pressed to CD & Vinyl in limited quantity so I wouldn’t wait around too long to snatch it up.

I’d love for this album to get the band back into the charts so we can get the boys back over here in the USA and get new albums more frequently. Don’t sleep on this band, if you’re out and about and you see any album from the band, don’t hesitate to pick it up, specifically this release.

~Black Angel