‘Wanted’ is the debut album from acclaimed progressive blues band, Five Points Gang.
Although relatively new to the scene, they are already making a big impression. Since releasing their live album back in 2019, this power-house trio have developed and crafted a sound which stands them apart from the customary blues-rock releases of today. Totalling 13 tracks, this album is a hefty collection of hits, and they’ve made sure not to leave anything out – there’s something for everyone.
‘Wanted’ chronicles the band, as they navigate through life, love, and important social issues. This album is a milestone for the band, in many ways; a proud achievement, and a consolidation
of a lot of hard work.
“This album represents the first time I’ve been truthful on a recording,” reflects guitarist and vocalist Joe Pearson. “I started playing guitar 29 years ago, and I feel that this album finally achieves the ambitions I had as an 8 year old.” Five Points Gang began life in early 2019. After jamming at a rehearsal studio in Notting Hill, the band formed around the nucleus of guitarist and vocalist, Joe Pearson and bassist Dinho Barral. Pearson had just recently relocated to London from South Wales, and Barral had only been in the city a few weeks, having moved from his home in Brazil. The two musicians hit it off right from the start, and the mandate was clear — “bring blues into the 21st Century”.
It wasn’t long until the band had accumulated a wealth of original tunes. A live album “Live at the Premises” was released in 2019, and their diary was starting to fill up with gigs and festival appearances. The band were booked to do a joint tour with the Mark Pontin Group, and they had recently won the opportunity of a support slot, through a Yamaha Music promotion, opening up for Jools Holland at London’s esteemed venue, The 100 Club.
As with many bands, lockdown put the brakes on their plans. But with the absence of live gigs, they turned their experience of the pandemic into another musical success story. Joe and Dinho began recording and releasing several “isolation” tracks which featured various notable artists from the blues scene, including musicians from Dinho’s home town in Brazil. The tracks soon became popular with the UK blues radio community, and it wasn’t long before they were being regularly play-listed. One of these recordings featured French dummer, Gaet Allard. Perhaps this was a possible audition? But whatever the case, he passed with flying colours and completed the line-up. From there they went into production mode, and after only a few weeks of writing sessions, they had all the material they needed for their first album.
“It feels like I’m in a band with two brothers that I never had,” says Joe. “We foster each other’s creativity, and nothing is off the table when we’re creating new material.” The album was recorded at the award winning Snap Studios, in London, and the goal was to capture as much of the band’s live sound as possible. “Our first intention was to capture what we do in a live situation with our natural sound and personality,” explains Gaet. “These songs are rooted in blues but we have a natural heavy sound and rock energy when we play together.”
This is an immense album that took on the challenge to provide a modern and vibrant sound to the blues-rock scene. This band have achieved that. Each song is a statement; the playing is incredibly well-executed, and the production sounds expensive!
Five Points Gang are a breath of fresh air an already abounding scene.
