JOHNNY GUNNER & THE RAIDERS - ATOM BOMB LOVE

JOHNNY GUNNER & THE RAIDERS - ATOM BOMB LOVE
Foot Tapping Records - FT083

THE GRIM REAPER / DID YOU MEAN WHAT YOU SAID / ONLY A MAN / DESPERADO / ONE WAY TICKET / ATOM BOMB LOVE / RECONSIDER / RAIDIN' OUT / EMPTY ROOM / ROCKIN' BLUES BOOGIE / RETURN OF THE REAPER / MAKING ENDS MEET

The latest addition to the Foot Tapping roster is Johnny Gunner and the Raiders. The band are Johnny Gunner on lead vocals, lead and rhythm guitar, Mark Hewitt on drums and Steve Mynott on double bass. Their website lists their influences as “many of the great acts of the '50's, including: Big Joe Turner, Roy Brown, Bob Luman, Benny Joy, Ronnie Self, Little Richard, Howlin' Wolf, Lightnin' Hopkins, Bo Diddley, Big John Taylor, James Burton, Micky Baker, Ike Turner, Link Wray and many others”. The music contained on this release lays testament to those claims and gives you some idea what to expect.

The band was formed in 2001 with a view to “fuse together the authentic sounds of that era with all its many different elements, with the attitudes, aspirations, recording techniques and recording technology of the 21st Century.” I haven’t heard their previous CD, Stack 'a' Records but it’s supposed to have been pretty good, at least that’s what their website says.

For me they have a handful of numbers that stand them out from the crowd, particularly the dance floor favourite The Grim Reaper, a menacing stroller that kicks ass. The title track is very similar and packs a punch. Another that really appealed was the slower Empty Room with his Sun ballad sound. Rockin’ Blues Boogie does what it says on the tin and Return of the Reaper is another belter. The album closer, Making Ends Meet is a story of a whore set to a hot rockin’ blues beat and is a great way to go out.