Leeds' finest retro rockers Gentleman's Pistols will be familiar to those who frequent sweaty rock bars and clubs around the country, as they've been a welcome fixture on that circuit for a few years now. They've also pleasured the crowds at the last couple of Hard Rock Hells, and are about to tickle the fancy of the discerning rock fans at this year's High Voltage festival. The band have a great reputation as a live act, combining their souped up seventies classic rock inspired sound, with some great catchy songs with riffs to match. And they wear pretty cool vests too.

It's now been four years since the release of the Pistols' self-titled debut album, which didn't quite match up to the potency of their live act. There have also been a couple of line-up changes as well. It was disappointing to see the departure of Chris Rogers, a fine guitarist, but 'At Her Majesty's Pleasure' sees the recorded debut of his more than able replacement Bill Steer, a man who seems to be going for the world record of how many active bands you can be a member of at the same time.

'At Her Majesty's Pleasure' does a much better job of matching the band's live sound this time around. It's an album packed full of super-catchy quality guitar riffs from start to finish and the songs are well crafted, with quite a few of them having been nicely honed in their live set for the past couple of years.

The high-energy rocker 'Living In Sin Again' kicks the album off in exceptional style, and has more than a hint of the sound of Sweden's much missed Hellacopters. If ever there was a band to fill that void, this is them. 'Comfortably Crazy' has an irresistible whiff of prime hard rocking-era Sweet to it, whilst 'Into The Haze' and 'Midnight Crawler's doom-tinged heavy blues heads right back to the early seventies, reminiscent of Free or Leaf Hound. 'Some Girls Don't Know What's Good For Them' takes the prize for best riff amongst a plethora of great riffs, and 'Your Majesty' and 'I Wouldn't Let You' excel in the vocal department with ultra-catchy choruses you'll be singing for hours.

Special mention must go to 'The Ravisher', with James Atkinson coming on like a weird hybrid of Robin Askwith, Leslie Philips and David Coverdale, declaring 'I'm gonna ravish you' to his chosen female prey. Indeed, the concept of 'ravishing' a favoured female form seems to be the only one that has eluded Mr. Coverdale's songwriting after all these years, so well done James Atkinson for 'out-Coverdale-ing' Cov the Guv. In all seriousness, this is one of the endearing features of this band, in that despite the obvious quality in their music, there's still time for some cheeky fun to put a smile on your face. That probably explains the vests too.

As with current scene favourites Black Spiders, Gentlemen's Pistols clearly take seventies hard rock as the building blocks for their sound, but still manage to bring something fresh and vibrant into the mix, dragging the music kicking and screaming into the here and now.

This is a great album, and enough to pleasure any Majesty of your choosing.

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