As we highlighted last week in our Artist of the Week section, Long Beach, Calif.-natives Rival Sons are on the cusp of something big. Granted, they already are big internationally in Europe and even Canada, which is what makes their latest album, Head Down, so important to their career Stateside. Needless to say, after giving this a couple of listens, it’s hard not to like what these rising stars’ output, especially if you’re a fan of bands like Led Zeppelin or the Black Crowes.

Speaking of Zeppelin, Jimmy Page brought the band to the attention of many when in his Rolling Stone cover story, he said the two groups he was impressed by were Muse and yes, Rival Sons. There are a lot of moments here where you think you’re listening to Page’s old group, and it sounds like them where you have to double listen to make sure you aren’t listening to Zeppelin. Guitarist Scott Holiday’s blues-driven riffs are so good and stand out so much that you can’t help but lose yourself in the music while singer Jay Buchanan, who you’d never expect his background to be as a singer/songwriter, howls like he’s trying to wake the ghosts of rock’s past

If you didn’t know what you were getting into before the first listen, album opener “Keep On Swinging” is a real eye opener and ear splitter. Buchanan and Holiday are like a real life version of Jeff Bebe and Russell Hammond from the fictional band Stillwater (you know, the one in Almost Famous), except without the tension. By the time you get two minutes into the song, Holiday’s heavy riffs transport you into another world, combine that with Michael Miley’s thunderous drumming, you feel like you’re in 1973, in a good way. When the band speeds things up like on “Until The Sun Comes,” it’s like they’re proving to the listener that, yes, we can also make shorter, radio friendly songs if we have.

The longer songs, like “Jordan” and “Manifest Destiny Pt. 1” are when the band shines brightest. It’s here where the band can show off their musicianship, with long brooding solos under a controlled recklessness that provide the structure for something that can go for at least 15 minutes in a live setting. This is a good thing, trust me.

Head Down is so strong from beginning to end that finally, Rival Sons could get the attention that they deserve in the States. It’s easy to hear why they’ve caught, yet alarming why they haven’t caught on yet here. However, fans of the band shouldn’t be worried about the band’s future, especially if they’re writing songs that rock as hard as the ones that make up this album. There will be comparisons, like above to Zeppelin and they are much deserved. They aren’t living in the past however, they’re just putting their own twist on blues-driven guitar rock, which not a lot of bands are doing these, nevertheless as well as these guys. Whoever said rock is dead hasn’t listened to Rival Sons because if they have, they’d be saying otherwise.