Review: Axminster – Tightrope EP

April 2022

Reviewer: Dan Mann

For us Brits the name Axminster brings to mind a brand of carpets, however in this instance, Axminster are in fact a hard rock band hailing from Boston, and that’s Boston, Massachusetts as opposed to Boston, Lincolnshire! As vocalist/guitarist Steve Sera says “yes we named our band after a city in the UK. Didn’t know that back in 1983…no internet! Found the name on the back of an old carpet we used to soundproof the garage….and it sounded cool…”

Since 1983, the band have shared stages with the likes of Metallica, Extreme, Twisted Sister, Molly Hatchet, Foghat, Ten Years After, Lita Ford, to name a few.

‘Tightrope‘ consists of six tracks of hard rock, but that’s hard rock edging more towards that classic rock sound of the late 70’s. A perfect reflection of that is the title track itself, that suprise, suprise consists of elements of Boston type tones and riffs. A very catchy tune, something which is carried over to the other five tracks on the EP. Throw in a heady mix of those 70’s bands we all love and you get the Axminster sound.

With only six songs, the band don’t waste time with ballards or long winded odysseys, instead they concentract on foot tapping, head nodding rock n’ roll, the sort of music you throw on the car stereo and you suddenly find your speed has increased somewhat as you let the music energise you, as any decent rock should do.

I hope on the strength of ‘Tightrope‘ that Axminster can deliver a full album’s worth, something which would allow the band to expand the songs, and that’s something I’d certainly like to hear.

So, to sum up I’ll simply say, if you like your classic 70’s rock than grab yourselves a copy and nudge up that volume control!