No so much what the Americans call a ‘throwback band’ as a hi-energy outfit with their own take on blues-rock, Manchester’s Federal Charm is a big sounding rock band with blue influences and real presence. Their rip roaring style draws on the blues but is never constrained by it, as they fill every crevice of the studio with displaced air molecules.
Formed in 2011, the band’s fiercely independent streak was immediately embodied in the name, as co-founder member Paul Bowe explains; “The name came from a Eureka moment in a Manchester bar, I really liked the idea of being called ‘Federation’ or 'The Federation’. I liked the hard togetherness of it and Nick wanted to quirk it up. He liked the word 'Charm’ and we put it together and the rest is history. We also thought no one on earth would have the name. It’s got a nice ring to it and looks great on merch (laughs).”
Federal Charm’s music draws from a deep well, spanning a Classic Rock curve that conjoins a big Zeppelin sound with Rage Against The Machine bombast (without the hardcore vocals), the contemporary bluster of The Rival Sons and the indie blues-rock of The Black keys, with distant echoes of the Black Crows. It’s tension busting rock with blues roots, imbued with restless, original ideas, coruscating solos and sculpted walls of sound that push the songs into previously undiscovered avenues
