For many of us, looking back at carefree younger days while battling adult struggles is an experience that's equal parts nostalgia and bittersweet sense of loss. Six years after another unconvincing split, Thunder are back and doing just that, with ‘Wonder Days’ a superb slice of classic rock that ranks as their finest effort since 1994’s underrated 'Behind Closed Doors'.
In Danny Bowes Thunder have the finest British rock singer since Paul Rodgers, and age certainly hasn't withered his soulful delivery. Alongside him, guitarist Luke Morley's six-string chops and compositional skills epitomise the term underrated, while drummer 'Harry' James, multi-instrumentalist Ben Matthews and bassist Chris Childs are all back in tow.
It appears that Morley locked himself away from the modern world, with nothing but a record player and a collection of his favourite albums, during the writing process. He's emerged with a bounding collection of cuts built around big, fat ‘70s rock riffage.
Chasing Shadows boasts the power-packed funk motif Clapton whacked out on Blind Faith's Had To Cry Today, Serpentine's tales of S&M mine the same musical and lyrical ground as ZZ Top's La Grange and Led Zeppelin's influence is palpable throughout. I Love The Weekend, meanwhile, transcends its cliched sentiments by adding incendiary fizz to Chuck Berry styled rock n' roll.
Many of the lyrics echo the music in kind, juxtaposing misty-eyed memories of teenage discovery with a determination to retain their youthful spirit in the face of current responsibilities, particularly on the extraordinary title track.
Its juggernaut riff underscores Bowes’ fiercely recalling posters of Hendrix on the wall, joining a band and his first day of school, before a delicate pathos descends as he vows to never forget that perfect time. See also When The Music Played, which is a love letter to the saving grace of rock music that explodes with a vitriolic attack on today's record company suits, who value demographic studies over music.
That distaste for the current scene also feeds The Prophet, where an Immigrant Song gallop unfurls beneath a fiery diatribe about a certain Saturday night TV show. It's safe to assume Bowes and Morley won't be sitting alongside Simon Cowell any time soon.
Given the narrative reflection, it's fitting that the band also recall their own history, with the perky swing of The Thing I Want echoing Everybody Wants Her and Black Water sounding like a jazz reworking of River Of Pain. The gorgeous piano ballad Broken is almost a sequel to Love Walked In, embodying the record's thematic concept as a once idealised romance reaches a painful, realistic conclusion.
'Wonder Days' may even find a younger audience thanks to Rival Sons and their ilk having brought a contemporary cool back to retro-rock. As such, this couldn't arrive at a better time, and the band will no doubt be thrilled to see that their lifelong passion for meaningful rock ‘n' roll lives on.
Thunder Upcoming Tour Dates are as follows:
Thu March 12 2015 - LEEDS first direct Arena
Fri March 13 2015 - BIRMINGHAM Barclaycard Arena
Sat March 14 2015 - LONDON EVENTIM APOLLO, HAMMERSMITH
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