‘A Measure of Wealth’ – The Law
on Local Boy Records

Some smarmy NME journalist wrote something about this album being six years too late.

Hahahaha.  What the NME don’t realize is that it is they who are six years  too late.  The credit crunch, cultural shifts and globalization means that London no longer has the definitive word on music.  People no longer follow trends and scenes quite so glibly.

And The Law has never been a scenester band. Birthed in a city of dead-ends where you’re seen as ambitious if you move out of your mum’s and loaded if you’ve got a job, this four piece have been grafting like pros since Day 1.  When not gigging, they were writing, when not rehearsing, driving up and down the country and I truly don’t know if they’ve slept in the past three years.

If their earnest gigging was where they cut their teeth then this album is where they bare these new fangs. The Law has moved on from a rock band with catchy tunes and real lyrics to a band who play blues you recognize inside you.

The songs on the appropriately-titled ‘A Measure of Wealth’ are sharper, fiercer nuggets of both euphoria and heartache. Steve Anderson has an instinctive ear for all-out emotive riffs. Of all the bands I’ve ever witnessed touring, this one stands out as the most fearless, unflinching, stopping at nothing for no one, totally dedicated to bettering performances and playing new songs live as soon as possible.  Others may listen to trends and fashion-dictators but not these lads.

Their debut album sees how their lives skills have been captured and qualified by producer Stan Kybert.  Stuart Purvey’s lyrics are crystal clear, undaunted and raging over relentless riffs and rhythms. There’s nothing dilute or safe about the whole album. A nice touch is the postscript on ‘Still Got Friday To Go’ – as real as it gets.  ‘Television Satellite’ gets a totally different production to the single but it is ‘The Chase’ which is the single to set them apart. The flinching pain of disappointment and hunger is orchestrated into an aching anthem. Likewise, ‘Vertical Feeling’ is a glorious surprise for fans – a new song to leave them dizzy.

How they turn misery into joy is the craft of true blues-masters. The Law are undoubtedly a band ahead of their times - unlike us poor journos trying to catch up with them.