By Arno Jaffré 
It is customary, when a band releases its debut album, to assume that it will grow and that its future releases will only get better, if not stronger.
The quality of the performers, while essential, is not enough on its own to guarantee success, and the compositions must of course live up to expectations. All I can say at this stage (before revealing more) is that this album is particularly rich in that respect. Without trying to force them into the Blues Rock category (even if that was my first thought on initial listening), it quickly becomes clear that each track contains enough elements to explore other directions. By blending the new with the old, the members of The Strikers have found the right formula and demonstrate a level of mastery that only seasoned musicians can truly deliver.
Like their illustrious predecessors, they have absorbed multiple influences to forge their own identity, while always giving the impression of navigating familiar territory. Everything flows seamlessly, with tempos shifting without ever causing a break. Comfortable in their time, “the strikers” draw evenly from the past, from an era when artists cared more about making music than selling it. If they know how to make us melt, they also know how to burn like the desert sun. This is therefore an invitation to travel through the heart of American music history, offered by these musicians from Auvergne. The energy on display is a pleasure to hear, and the musicianship binds this decidedly smooth yet paradoxically textured mixture together. Once inhaled, the aromas released are likely to trigger a form of addiction, leading to repeated listens.
Magnificently anachronistic, Bye Bye Love will undoubtedly satisfy lovers of vintage sounds as well as younger followers of a revival movement that finds one of its finest representatives here.
An excellent discovery, where each track gradually embeds itself with every listen, becoming the soundtrack to your day. Worth noting is a sublime cover of Catfish Blues by Robert Petway, made famous among others by Muddy Waters and Jimi Hendrix.
Listen to an excerpt
Technical details
- RELEASE DATE: September 2025
- LABEL: Self-released
- MUSICIANS: JC. SUTTER / VOCALS & GUITAR, J. BORIES / KEYBOARDS, E. COURRIER / BASS & DOUBLE BASS, J. HAZARD / DRUMS & FLUTE
- TRACKLIST: BYE BYE LOVE / SOME OF THESE DAYS / 13 STARS WOMAN / KEEP MY GRAVE CLEAN / ALLRIGHT / GOOD FRIEND / NOBODY ELSE / GRIS GRIS / CATFISH BLUES
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