Review: The Gems – Phoenix

Napalm Records (January 26^th, 2024)

Reviewer: Jason Hopper

The band Thundermother were on a roll by the end of 2022.  They had just completed a successful North American tour opening for Scorpions and were ready to start 2023 carrying that tour package to Europe. Within a few weeks into the new year, it looked like the wheels fell off the tour bus when lead singer Guernica Mancini was fired by founder/guitarist Filippa Nässil. Drummer Emlee Johansson and bassist Mona Lindgren decided to leave out of solidarity and the three ladies went on to form The Gems and get a head start on their former band by releasing their debut album in early 2024. Having highly rated Thundermother’s 2022 release ‘Black and Gold‘ album and based on singles released throughout last year by this new band, I was eager to give this collection a go.

I am happy to report that if you loved the last Thundermother album, then this sounds like the next album they would have recorded had they stayed together. I love their energy and their hard-hitting, blues-tinged swagger is infectious.

Based on the band’s history, I’ll start with the lyrical content of the album. As one might suspect, there’s some biting comments about ego trips, rising from the ashes, and letting the past be the past. For me, the songs with the most vitriol are the hardest hitting and my favorites on the album. The anger is palpable on ‘Domino’, ‘Silver Tongue’, P.S.Y.C.H.O., and ‘Force of Nature’.  The band just goes for it on these tracks, and I certainly could have used one or two more tracks like this amongst the collection. With that said, the lyrics are vague enough for the listener to transcribe their meaning into other aspects of life like jilted lovers or general backstabbers.

The album does have a nice variety of grooves and range. The previously mentioned hard hitters stand out, but other slightly slower southern rock songs like ‘Send Me to the Wolves’ and ‘Kiss It Goodbye’ ooze the blues. The kind of songs that make you close your eyes in the chorus and bob your head compulsively.

Surprisingly, the song I fully expected to be a throwaway really resonated with me. It’s the final track acoustic version of ‘Like a Pheonix’. What makes the song special is, despite it being acoustic, Guernica tackles the song with the same ferocity as the electric version. It highlights her range and power and makes the song a different beast altogether rather than a tame re-treading of the track.

With such great songs, I would like to point out that the weakest track on the album is the opener. ‘Queens’ is a women empowerment track honoring the female pioneers of music that came before them. Its melody is a little too basic for me and the 22 second spoken word portion right before the solo takes me out of the song and just feels clunky. This is a song clearly not written for me so I won’t fault the band for it.

I do appreciate that the band had to courtesy to tell the listener that three of the tracks on the album are interludes. Nothing grinds my gears more than thinking I am getting sixteen tracks with a purchase to only realize it’s thirteen songs.

A quick mention about Mona Lindgren. She pulls double duty handling both guitar and bass here and does a fantastic job. Her grooves are nothing fancy but tight in the pocket, catchy and memorable. I found myself singing the tunes in my head when I was at work and not listening to the tracks.

What we have here is high quality meat and potatoes rock n’ roll. Solid yet bombastic. I wish this band all the success in the world as they strive to get out of the shadow of their former band.  Thundermother have yet to announce a release date for their next album, but they have quite a hill to climb to match the quality of this release.

Tracklist:

1. Aurora – Interlude
2. Queens
3. Send Me To The Wolves
4. Domino
5. Silver Tongue
6. Undiscovered Paths
7. Maria’s Song – Interlude
8. Ease Your Pain
9. Running
10. Renaissance – Interlude
11. Like a Phoenix
12. P.S.Y.C.H.O
13. Kiss It Goodbye
14. Force of Nature
15. Fruits of My Labor
16. Like a Phoenix (Acoustic Version)