The Thinking Men. And two buckets. Photo courtesy of Lauren Razavi.
The Thinking Men, describing themselves as ‘two guys, a girl, and lots of instruments’ are the latest act to come out of Norwich’s musical melting pot.
Said two guys and a girl are Johnny Raspin, Ronnie Smith and Sarah Barsoumian. Moving away from the more commons nods to folk and indie that many acts are favouring at the moment, The Thinking Men are all about jazz-influenced blues rock.
The band’s first single, Whiskey And Milk has been released ahead of their first EP, which you’ll have to wait for until November. The nod to jazz and blues can be heard from the first couple of seconds; a moody beat followed by a mischievous bass, before a host of instruments kick in with it – tambourine, piano, and electric guitar to name just a few.
Johnny Raspin’s vocals live up to his namesake; rather raspy, with a lot of attitude, fairly reminiscent of Jack White. The short bursts of power throughout the track, followed by a lazy guitar lull give a good change in tempo, but the lull is such that there is sometimes the feeling that the song could do with a bit more substance to carry it through.
If you fancy a listen, you can download it for free here.
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