Guitars From Agadez Vol 3

When Tinariwen stormed the citadel of the mainstream music industry, a wave of guitar-toting Touaregs followed in their wake, picking their own path over the rubble. None of these second-generation outfits have come close to replicating Tinariwen’s extraordinary success. But at least the likes of Tamikrest, Toumast and Bombino now get a more sympathetic hearing away from their native Sahara – thanks to their elders’ trailblazing exploits.

Group Inerane are the latest to appear over the desert horizon, a four-piece from Niger who arrive noticeably battle¬scarred (one former guitarist was shot dead, another victim of the continuing rebel struggle). Stylistically, Guitars From Agadez is a further reminder of the close proximity of American rock’n’roll to the rebel sound of the Touareg lands, with detectable echoes of Bo Diddley, Velvet Underground and even Jonathan Richman’s Modern Lovers at their scratchiest. And in Bibi Ahmed and Koudede Maman they boast a potent double guitar attack. But this album simply doesn’t do them justice. Sure, Tinariwen have set the bar unfeasibly high and comparisons are perhaps unfair (if inevitable) – but this record reveals Inerane to be lacking the poise, the presence and the skin-pricking tunes of their antecedents. The promise is there; it’s just a fair way from being realised.