When it comes to producing 70's inspired retro rock bands, there isn't a better country than Sweden. Over recent years we've been utterly thrilled by bands such as Graveyard, Witchcraft, Enforcer and going back a bit further, The Hellacopters. So when I received the invitation to catch Swedish rockers The Quill, billed as a fusion of Stoner rock and 70's inspired classic rock, this was one gig that looked right up my street.

The first thing that struck me as The Quill hit the stage was what a shockingly poor turnout we have tonight. There can't be more than 20 people watching the band, and half of them are media scribes, so the gig has an air of a showcase about it, and I guess it's up to me and the other scribes to get our quills out and let you know whether this band 'pen and ink' or not.

From what I had heard about this band I would have been very surprised if I didn't like them, and sure enough they turn out to be just fine, so it's a big thumbs up from me. Although they're billed as a stoner band, and perhaps the biggest reference point for me was Monster Magnet (one of their previous touring partners, or so I'm reliably informed), as I found them to be more classic rock than stoner on the whole. There's a whole heap of quality groovy riffs in the Quill's songs and the band are extremely tight. Whilst the likes of 'Sleeping With The Enemy' and 'Full Circle' do have the unmistakeable down tuned vibe of Monster Magnet to them, the likes of 'Bring It On' have a more straight ahead classic rock groove and sound mightily impressive. During 'Bring It On' the band attempt an audience singalong that considering the lack of people in the room, is a pretty brave move, the band bring the song down and keep it grooving extremely well as they try to coax a response. It did put a smile on my face to see the band attempting this audience participation with largely the only member of the audience singing back to them being an inebriated Mark Taylor. If he could hold a tune as well as he can hold a bottle of red wine, we may have been OK!

A band can't do anything about a lack of numbers in the audience and can only show those that have made the effort what they can do. For me The Quill proved themselves to be a solid and very enjoyable band that apart from Monster Magnet, also reminded me in places of acts as diverse as Danzig, Free and even a bit of old school Whitesnake. The Quill tonight proved themselves to be another impressive Swedish export, and ones to watch out for in 2012.