With a name like The Blistered Fingers, you might think you know what to expect from this New Plymouth four-piece. Rather than the fret-burning blues the name might suggest, instead think more the ’70s southern rock of Allman Brothers and Lynyrd Skynyrd, ’60s revival boogie woogie, RnB and game-changing rock legends The Band. Indeed perhaps their biggest strength is their breadth of influence, seemingly sounding, at the same time, like everyone – yet uniquely. Featuring Kerr Sharpe-Young on guitar), Ash Gesterkamp (drums), Jimmy Hick (bass) and Karl Raubenheimer (guitar/vocals), this self-titled debut sees the band ditch needless over-the-top virtuosity in exchange of song service, having fun while blurring the line between revival rock and neo-blues. Recorded by Dave Carnahan at New Plymouth’s King St Studio with additional musicians Robin Wells (saxophone), Viv Trewick (trumpet) and Callum Judd on keys and percussion filling out the sound, there certainly is a sense of grandeur. Not content to keep the 12 tracks from sounding like improvised blues-jams, The Rider wouldn’t be out of place in a Clint Eastwood spaghetti-western. Album opener It’s Not Easy sees The Blistered Fingers at their best, its mellow groove would have stood shoulder to shoulder with tracks off The Band’s self-titled second album.