REVIEW: Live From The Pit - a cruising rock ride with Okay You Win

London stoner/grunge quartet Okay You Win have barely been active for a year, but are surely starting to make their dent in the British heavy rock scene. In the last few weeks they've immortalised their first chapter of existence with Live From The Pit, a seven-track recording captured live from The Pit Studios in Kent by Paul 'Pablo' Annis in early November 2023.

The Live From The Pit album takes you on a sonic ride that kicks off with Ten Year Trip's climbing psych-rock riff, signaling the start of what immediately seems an epic, grungy adventure. This opener sets the tone, bringing chugs and guitar dissonance that pack a serious punch, all while channeling vocals reminiscent of the legendary Chris Cornell. These echoes of the Soundgarden frontman ooze a vintage sense of cool, and the instrumental/lead guitar break? We're only just getting started. It nicely encapsulates what's to come, with Ryan and Rodrigo's guitar and bass chemistry making itself particularly apparent at this early stage.

Dredge keeps the momentum alive with its memorable ascending guitar lick. Its moodiness, heavy grunge flavour and unrelenting energy takes you deeper into Okay You Win's gritty soundscape. Smoke then steps up the game with its driving, hard-rocking attitude. It's a high-intensity number for the most part, but arguably the trippy psych break shows Okay You Win in their best light here. It's not just a dynamic contrast, but musically clever and powerful by itself too. The lower register vocals over this interlude really hit a soulful sweet spot, giving the listener a moment to catch their breath before they ramp the energy back up again.

Okay You Win - Smoke (live at Worcester Music Festival 2023)

The rocking Blood Up goes hard and has a real sense of fun to it, but again it's the killer time switch in the middle that steals the show. The vocals add a bit of snarl that's just right for the thematic "need to clear my head". The guitar solo is also very well executed, my pick of the bunch for this album, and shows Ryan's capabilities at his very best. Okay You Win demonstrate once again how effective switching up the song can be on this one. The adrenalising Red Flag then adds a punky twist to proceedings, keeping things diverse, interesting and unpredictable. Antonio's drumming is particularly razor-sharp on this faster number.

The last two songs on the album go much more down the stoner rock route, compared to the grungier overtones beforehand, showing us further what Okay You Win are capable of. Own It hits you with detuned riffing from the get-go, evoking a Welcome To Sky Valley feel among its meditative tom patterns. Its heavyweight chorus is really quite sludgy, before a cool, prog-tinged break keeps the surprises coming. The sprawling, epic finale, The Greatest Lie, finally ends Live From The Pit with a touch of class and thoughtful introspection. As it churns along, it builds into an awe-inspiring, hard as nails Children of the Grave-style stoner swing that ends the record with a particularly memorable and powerful climax.

Okay You Win really stand tall on material that switches things up mid-song - whether going from loud to quiet, from slow to fast, or from a straight beat to a swing - maybe there's something for all songwriters to take from this.

Sure, there's a raw feel by nature, with the occasional scratch and vocal waver, but that just adds character to the mix. The instrumental tone is spot on - especially for a live recording - and Dave's soulful vocals are great, sealing this debut as a must-listen for fans of Soundgarden, Kyuss, and Foo Fighters.

Okay You Win: Facebook | Instagram | Bandcamp

MN

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