A bit of a cracker.

A definite all-rounder, Swiss born Luke Gasser is a film and documentary maker, author, artist, record producer, and multi-talented freelance musician. 'Retribution' is his eighth album release, and as far as I can ascertain, his first with lyrics completely in English. And it's a bit of a cracker!

Taking straight-ahead guitar driven Rock'n'Roll, and adding layers of acoustic guitars and an abundance of mandolin is the name of the game, throw in sporadic harmonica passages, and top with a slightly gruff and occasionally off-kilter vocal style, and you get a hard-edged but rootsy Folk Rock style.

From up-tempo rockers like 'Retribution', 'Vivid Wind' and 'Horizon' (which features powerful vocal harmonies from Doro Pesch), and the rockabilly 'Stud Muffin', through mid-tempo numbers 'Pilgrim', 'Packerland Girl' and the excellent 'Scarlett O.' (which gets a nod of approval for managing to rhyme 'Scarlett' with 'starlet' and 'harlot' in the same chorus), to the slower ballad-like material 'From Now On', 'Sittin' On A Rock' and the mournful 'A Bastard, Not A Friend.' There are also two cover versions, the Rolling Stones 'Factory Girl', and an acoustic take on AC/DC's 'She's Got Balls.'

Throw in a pinch of Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones, Georgia Satellites, Tesla, The Alarm, Neil Young and early Rod Stewart and The Faces and you'll get an idea of what Luke Gasser is about. If you're partial to any of the above then this is an album you may want to investigate. Like them all, then it's damn near essential.

Ant Heeks