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You have to see these guys work their magic. I seen them get down dirty and intimate at a packed out Ronnie Scott’s,
I seen them rip it up late into the night at Glastonbury festival,
I seen them share the love at the Empire in Shepherds Bush. Through some weird and wonderful
combinations and collaborations – supporting funk master Roy Ayers and reggae legend Horace Andy,
or sharing a rock bill with Bloc Party and Arctic Monkeys – the same thing shines through...
there just ain’t no-one else like Big Strides. I’ve said it before, the guys are like a beacon of blues hope in these crazy times.
Many of you will have treasured their debut album "Small Town, Big Strides",
a collection of grooves recorded live in the studio in just one week, which played like a glorious mission statement
from a band with it’s own special feel, it’s own distinctive sound. Where would it lead next? We couldn’t help but wonder.
With their second album "Cry It All Out", they have truly stepped it up a notch - there’s pain, there’s anger,
there’s some serious rock’n’roll, there’s laid back musings, there’s kick-ass drums, there’s soulful grooves...
and there’s a room full of japanese girls singing backup. When Dan Swift isn’t working on Snow Patrol or Aqualung records,
he’s sweating it out in a London studio with the Strides - and through it all, the stripped down sound of these 3 boys
ripping it up makes you feel like you’re right there in the room with them. If they didn’t "Fear Jazz" before,
they certainly ain’t afraid of rock’n’roll now. If Marcus O’Neill was ever "Suicidal", he’s certainly come back for
another lyrical twist of the knife.
Whatever you try to compare it to, you can’t quite pin it down. It’s their own special thing, a rare gem, a party sound,
an angry cry, an english blues. Let’s hear it for Big Strides.
Bob Weissfeldner