Rock
Independent Release
Release Date – October 17th 2025
Line Up:
Lindsey Bonnick – Vocals
Ed ‘The Shred’ Clarke – Guitar/Vocals
Billy ‘Danger’ Dedman – Bass/Vocals
Donna Peters – Drums/Acoustic Guitar/Vocals
Tracklist
Let Me Rock N Roll
Poison
Try Again
Control
Wild Child
Poison (Acoustic Version)
Control (Acoustic Version)
Wild Child (Acoustic Version)
I had never seen or heard Brave Rival until I attended this years Call Of The Wild festival. All I knew was that they were considered a blues band with two female singers. I’ve heard enough blues in my life, so I pitched up not expecting much. First surprise was that they now only have one singer the utterly superb Lindsey Bonnick, second surprise, the music may be blues based but boy oh boy do they rock!
Don’t believe me – just get a load of opener ‘Let Me Rock N Roll’ where Ed The Shred shows he ahs the gift of the riff and Bonnick tells you about yourself all backed by a rhythm section tighter than a duck’s bum! ‘Poison’ is a steady AC/DC style rocker where Bonnick sings sweetly and shows her range then ‘Try Again’ starts with an acoustic and Bonnick serenades us smoothly luring us in before Ed The Shred comes in with some red-hot slide guitar, and they ease into it seamlessly. Stunning. Jeez they change gears on ‘Control’ with a nasty riff that goes into an angry stop start thing on the verses then ‘Wild Child’ has Peters rattling out a glam style pattern and the rest provide some punchy rock n roll that’s bound to get your hips moving.
We get bonus acoustic versions of ‘Poison’ which is absolutely awesome and very different, ‘Control’ which has a southern feel and a twelve-bar version of ‘Wild Child’.
Oh man this is great. It’s biting rock n roll that’s well played and shows how well these guys craft a song. Every band relies on a tight rhythm section; Dedman and Peters are totally locked in, Ed The Shred proves he can play any style and play it expertly and Bonnick has a voice comparable to Heart’s Ann Wilson with the vulnerability of Sandy Denny. The band are off on an extensive UK tour over October/November into December and January so make sure you catch them.
Written by: Smudge
Ratings: 9/10
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