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‘Georgiana’ – the debut EP from Tennessee’s hotly-tipped Naked Gypsy Queens – has been a long time coming. The title track itself was released as a single 12 months ago, with another track; ‘Down to the Devil’, released September 2021. Finally, after months of teasing, the Naked Gypsy Queens are ready to go to second base, and ‘Georgina’ is set to see the light of day. In hindsight, holding it back until now was a savvy decision as had the EP surfaced late 2021 then it might have sunk without trace amongst the glut of quarter-four new releases, plus, it also gave the quartet time to hone their stagecraft once America lifted restrictions on live music.
So, ‘Georgiana’; created by a band from Tennessee and recorded in Detroit. Nice. The setting is important though as the grit, and muscle that is synonymous with Detroit is evident throughout the five tracks that make up ‘Georgiana’, hell, even Detroit legends like Alice Cooper and MC5’s Wayne Kramer popped their head around the studio door during the tracking process. The fact that ‘Georgiana’ was recorded in a series of live takes also helps it stand out as the right-here-right-now vibe works very well. There is a brief pause after the opening licks of the title track kick in, and it’s easy to imagine the band glancing at each other before drummer Landon Herring brings his sticks crashing down and his bandmates follow on. Likewise, mid-song there is another brief pause before all breaks loose as the band launch into one hell of a jam led by the twin lead-guitar work of frontman Chris Attigliato and Cade Pickering. ‘Georgiana’ is guitar-driven in every way possible, and fans of well-played and well-constructed guitar work will find plenty within to enjoy.
Attigliato has a strong voice full of character, and since it’s the 30th anniversary of ‘Wayne’s World’ (no way…way)…the guy can wail. ‘Down to the Devil’ has a bit of an Aerosmith-style fizz to the guitar parts (as does the intro to ‘Strawberry Blonde #24’) and provides a lush wall of grooves as a background for Attigliato to strut his stuff too. The construction of the aforementioned ‘Strawberry Blonde #24’ is built upon the solid work of the engine room team of Landon Herring and bassist Bo Howard, and at times if you close your eyes for a second, with Attigliato’s howl, it’s almost like you are sitting in on Aerosmith’s sessions for the ‘Toys In The Attic’ album – but with added modern guitar fireworks. After the Janes Addiction-done grunge style of ‘Wolves’, the EP ends with the towering ‘If Your Name is New York (Then Mine’s Amsterdam)’ – loosely paraphrasing Bill ‘The Butcher’ Cutting in Scorsese’s opus ‘Gangs of New York’ – a fantastic few minutes of storytelling that is almost Springsteen-Esque in its vivid characterization. Simply superb.
Naked Gypsy Queens possess swagger and confidence by the bucketload, but at the same time, seem refreshingly humble and arrogance-free. They know that they have something special bubbling away, but rather than shouting about it in a way that has caused many other acts to stumble and fall, they are playing it cool and allowing it to come to the boil in its own organic way. Live dates are a must. This is a band to discover in their natural habitat: on stage.
Available February 11th through Mascot Records/Mascot Label Group, more information here.
Naked Gypsy Queens on social media, here.
Review – Dave
All images – John Partipilo
