A Rock Extravaganza With Niki Barr

Bruce Von Stiers

I have been following the career of Niki Barr for a while. I reviewed her last album, Lush, which really kicked ass. Now Niki is back with something that shows her music has even more intensity than before.

The new album is a five song EP titled Bloom. It is being described as Niki’s first true “band” effort. In fact, the EP is labeled as the Niki Barr Band instead of just Niki Barr. The members of this band are BJ Kerwin on drums, Island Styles on guitar and Scott Ensign on bass. Niki does the killer vocals, smoking guitars and hot key work on the album.

Undivided is the first track. It has an interesting, almost Middle Eastern sound at first. Then it kicks into a killer gunner style of head banging guitar. From there Niki cranks out her hot and harsh vocals. The song has a bit of Iron Maiden meets Jon Bon Jovi with some other tough rock music thrown in. There is a really good video for the song that is helping promoting the band’s upcoming DVD. The video shows some US troops in the Middle East rocking out to the song. This video was filmed during the band’s third stint on the Armed Forces Entertainment Tour.

Alone has a steady pace, with sometimes aching vocals by Niki.

Kicking the mode back to hard rock ballad, Niki and the guys come in steady with a tough song called So Cruel.

Burn has an almost circus, pop sound to it. You might almost be expecting an “oomph pah pah” as part of the lyrics in this one. But then at the end the guitar kicks into a solid heavy rock style.

The EP ends with a hard hitting, definite head banging piece called Drowsy. Niki has some killer vocals backed by smoking guitar.

In a way it’s hard to compare Niki to other female rockers. She at times sounds a bit like Pat Benatar, but mostly has a harder edge. Her guitar playing puts her on the same level of Nancy Wilson of Heart. Niki’s intensity matches any of her contemporaries, either male or female. And with BJ, Island and Scott backing her, the Niki Barr Band has become a rock music force to be reckoned with.

Bloom is out now. You can get it through CD Baby or other online or traditional music outlets. And the EP is also available on the band’s web site. The tracks from Bloom can be heard on the site as well. The site is www.nikibarr.com.

 

Back


© 2008 Bruce E Von Stiers