Part of a long line of hard rockers that stretches back to at least to the
White Stripes -- a comparison
Leogun courts with Tommy Smith's yelp, along with titling a song "Let's Be Friends" --
Leogun likes everything that counts as pure rock & roll in the new millennium: big, bloozy hooks, classic rock volume, soulful singing pitched halfway between
Steve Marriott and
Robert Plant. Like
Wolfmother, they depart from the blueprint etched out on parchment by
Jack White by being accomplished pros, playing in the pocket and soloing with finesse. Unlike
Wolfmother, there is no
Sabbath worship here, only a love of the blues, hard rock, and soul that fueled both the
White Stripes and
the Black Keys. Like
the Black Keys,
Leogun isn't afraid to incorporate some modern technology to their retro party -- "Do What You Do" has a big disco beat that brings to mind either
the Scissor Sisters,
Electric Six, or
Leogun patron
Elton John, all depending on your vantage point -- and these moments are sufficiently trashy to reveal just how hungry
Leogun is for success. On the rest of
By the Reins, it's made plain that
Leogun think they have street cred in the bag, that by aping
the White Stripes they sound like a real, authentic rock & roll band -- which is true to an extent. They do make the big noise that sounds like old-time rock & roll and they do it well enough that they can be fun, but it's the kind of cheap fun that you hate yourself for having come morning. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine