Album Review: Wrong Side of The River

BB & The Bullets’ Wrong Side Of The River is the Rock-Blues album you are missing. It’s warm, a little dusty, and surprisingly comforting. The kind of album you put on when you want someone to tell you a proper story over a beer. The lads keep the three‑piece energy from the previous album, High Tide but stretch the palette here. A touch of jazz, a dash of rap swagger, and a title track that smells faintly of Mississippi and the Whanganui riverbank at the same time. Released 17 April 2026, the album lands like a friendly vocal shove with energetic guitar riffs and fast drums pushing it forward. Brian Baker (guitar/vocals), Stu ‘The Glue’ Duncan (bass/vocals) and Brad MacMillan (drums/vocals) keeping the rock-blues album just between the three of them. Brian Baker making it a clean production.

The opener kicks off with blues guitars and a low, honest vocal that nods to the road‑worn trucker vibe. That first single, released 27 March 2026, has a video that was shot by the three lads squeezed into ‘Willy’s’ gorgeous 1934 Ford Tudor and it gives the song a cinematic small‑town cool. It’s classic Bullets gritty but melodic and it hooks you quick. If you play this right after the last album, it is just a perfect continuation.

Next up they slow the pace and let the melody breathe. Wild Honey is a softer, almost jazz‑tinged number that’s unexpectedly tender; the lyrics are playful and make you imagine the honey that sure tastes good. The record grins and grinds into Freak Show. A grinding guitar and an easy‑to‑hum to chorus make this one feel like life’s messy, weird, and sometimes ridiculous. The band leans into that freakiness with a wink. It is a pub song and will have people singing along before the second verse.

The title track sways like a boat on a slow current although it starts with a rough wavy surf break. The American blues influence is clear, but the band’s Kiwi sound keeps it grounded. Clean vocals and neat storytelling make the river metaphor land; it’s the sort of song that settles in your chest and stays there.

There’s a polished moment where guitar and voice almost pirouette together. Get A Little Real is intimate and relatable to that awkward, and honest stage in a relationship where you either step up or step away. Drums are deep, bass guitar filling in, and clean vocals that give the arrangement room to breathe.

Oh Well takes a bold swing at a classic, reworking Peter Green’s lines with a BB & The Bullets stamp. The riffs show off talent in the best way, goosebumps territory. They manage to honour the original while making it feel like theirs. If you liked their Beatles cover on the last record, this Fleetwood Mac one will give you the same thrill.

A deeper, stickier melody follows, with drums keeping a steady pulse from the previous track but the overall mood shifting into something more reflective. In Sometimes You Lose Yourself, the vocals sit low and warm; it’s the kind of tune that gets stuck in your head and lingers after the album stops.

Then comes the Kiwi sun: local colours and summertime vibes that could soundtrack a Paihia waterfront afternoon. Breezy but rooted, this one might be the album’s most immediately likeable track. Black Crow is slower but sits well on this 40-minute album.

The Buddha Song, takes a thoughtful turn with a political heart. Lines like “hatred is never conquered by hatred” land with force. It’s thoughtful without being preachy, showing the band can carry weight as well as swagger. They can relay a message in the lyrics and if we would still do the 90’s TV telethons, this song would make you want to call the donation panel.

One of the album’s biggest surprises is where rap verses meet rock‑blues hooks and, somehow, it works. Playful and cheeky, this track sounds like the band having a proper laugh in the studio. Live, it’ll be the one that gets people moving and grinning.

The She Knows video is a proper grin. Shot around Whanganui with a cheeky stop at the Durie Hill Elevator, it pairs the band’s rough blues with a playful visual twist: the lads decked out in modernised heavy‑chain, side‑cap rapper gear, strutting through town like they’ve wandered in from another century and decided to start a party. The contrast works: gritty guitar licks and deep vocals cut against the tongue‑in‑cheek style, while quick edits and a few well‑timed closeups keep the energy bouncing; it’s part music video, part local love letter. Released with the album, the YouTube release turns a surprise genre mashup into something that’s equal parts silly and strangely sincere.

The closer invites you to open a window and let the record Crawl Right In. Warm and confident, it leaves you wanting another spin, a tidy, satisfying end that ties the whole thing together. The song is just as fast as this follow up album came after the September 2025 debut release. Even with that said, I cannot wait for even more.

It shines bright and bold on your screen if you’re listening on a streaming service. The artwork of the album is not much different than the previous album. They like to switch this up with more differences in the single releases. Diggers and guitars from the High Tide singles now make way for the ghost-rider and a red lipped lady that says, She Knows in capital letters. The red and black of the albums and bullets with wings starting already to form a signature look.

If you like your Rock-Blues with a wink, a local accent, and the occasional curveball, Wrong Side Of The River is a proper good time.