RIVAL SONS: 'Electric Man' Video Released

"Electric Man", the new video from California blues rockers RIVAL SONS, can be seen below. The song is taken from the band's latest album, "Great Western Valkyrie", which was released in June 2014. The CD was recorded with producer Dave Cobb at LCS Studios in Nashville, Tennessee.

In a recent interview with CultNoise.com, RIVAL SONS vocalist Jay Buchanan stated about "Great Western Valkyrie": "I think that it's our best; I think that it's our most cohesive-sounding record, thematically and sound-wise, I think it's good. I've heard people say that it's slick production, which is crazy, because we do all of our records the same way. With 'Great Western Valkyrie', we gave ourselves two additional weeks, but that was just two more weeks of doing the same thing that we always did. There was no greater benefit to being in there for an extra two weeks, other than having time to write more songs that you can decide to throw away and not put on the record. I was really excited about the prospect of having longer to do it, but the whole process is such a hair-raising and gut-wrenching experience for me. I have to write around the clock, twenty-four-seven, so I'm always at work whenever we're in the studio, writing and helping to arrange things that the other guys are writing — everyone is putting songs together. There's no rest and it's constant — you're in the hot seat. I think it took a toll on me personally, but the record itself I think is something special."

He continued: "People have worked really hard to call us a 'classic' rock band, not even in a pejorative sense, but dismissing us as a '70s LED ZEPPELIN style. The further that we're able to purvey our own style, I believe that people will understand that we have no concern of that. I most of all couldn't care less about the '70s, or even rock and roll for that matter. My love affair is with this band and what we're capable of doing."

Asked about the fact that RIVAL SONS is often categorized as a "Southern" rock band, Buchanan said: "People also say we're 'classic' rock, which doesn't make sense because we're not 'classic' — we're barely even six years old as a band, so we're literally not classic rock — a band has to be around for a couple of decades at least. The 'Southern' rock thing I really don't understand; that really throws me every time. We'll get that more [in Europe], because here if you hear a slide guitar, it's like, 'Ooh, the South.' In America, 'Southern' rock is like LYNYRD SKYNYRD and that kind of stuff. I definitely don't see us as Southern rock."

He continued: "We're dominated by guitar solos and rock and roll guitar riffs; that's the type of band we are. I understand that people would draw that because it's uncommon for people to actually play rock and roll. I do understand when people look at us and think it's kind of a throwback, because we're actually making our records and playing live on the records and trying to capture that energy. When we play live, we do it for real."