Billy Roberts And The Rough Riders – “Seen It All Before” – Single Review

Looky here – it’s our favourite musical-outlaw!

Been awhile since we’ve heard from Billy Roberts And The Rough Riders, but it looks as if Wild-Bill & his cohorts are warming up the machine once again with a lead-single from the upcoming album Go By Myself. When we last reviewed him, we had a chance to experience the world from the Billy Roberts perspective on The Last Of The Originals…which, in fairness to him and the Rough Riders was really only just last year – so if they are getting that new album ready to release then that’s actually pretty quick relatively to most bands out there…I shouldn’t complain I suppose!

That’s just about the last thing that new music makes me want to do anyhow…so no, I’m not complaining. And though I feel as if clicking this link to the new single “Seen It All Before” will not necessarily reveal a ‘new’ sound from Billy, I’m excited all the same. He does what he does very well…but I’d be the last to say I’d be expecting him to have changed from the last album to the next one…well, aside from himself I’m sure.

It’s always made for music that has come out uncompromising in sound, structure and tone – and always 100% identifiable as Billy Roberts And The Rough Riders when you hear it. “Seen It All Before” holds true to his alt-rock-meets-country sound and definitely represents the solidness in his song-writing. As much as I might not have been expecting change – it’s just as awesome to find a band you can depend on to supply a sound you love…one that won’t compromise it album to album and finds a way to still make it interesting each time out. With its gritty nature and subtle slow-burning style, “Seen It All Before” goes a long, long way to make Billy Roberts And The Rough Riders a front-running candidate to BE that dependable sound for you, confirming audibly what you’d expect from the band and were presumably hoping for in this upcoming release. If you’ve read about the man behind the music – then you already knew what to expect as a fan and you’ve been anticipating more of this authentic sound and have been fully aware that when it comes to compromising the vision, Wild-Billy ain’t havin’ none of it.

For those of you that are new to the sound of BR & the RR’s – you’ll find a solid-rock tune in “Seen It All Before.” I actually found myself loving the organ on this track…I’d almost be surprised if that wasn’t an authentic Hammond right there – it sounds incredible. Not going to lie to you Billy…organ sounds in music usually equate to a listening-death for me, but something about this and the recording of them really got me into it. Through the vocals and lyrical-flow this crew still tends to remind me a lot of Canadian sounds like The Headstones or perhaps even a little 54-40 on this particular single – but at the end of the day, there’s not much I can think of that I could hear that would confuse me over WHO I’m hearing when Billy Roberts And The Rough Riders comes on. There’s definitely a ‘sound’ here…and I’m looking forward to a second helping of it on the upcoming album Go By Myself.

Find out more about them at the official site: http://www.billyrobertsandtheroughriders.com/