William The Conqueror - Maverick Thinker (LP)

Some bands treat the studio like a lab. William The Conqueror treat it like a rehearsal space with the door flung open. Maverick Thinker, their third album, landed in 2021 with the kind of unvarnished charge you only get from a road-tested trio playing like they actually enjoy being loud together. If you have been following them since Proud Disturber of the Peace and Bleeding on the Soundtrack, this one feels like the moment everything clicks. The lines are tighter, the stories bite harder, and the rhythm section sounds ready to shove the room’s furniture against the walls.

The lineup remains the beating heart of it. Ruarri Joseph handles guitar and vocals, writing with a storyteller’s eye and a garage rocker’s tolerance for scuff marks. Naomi Holmes’ bass has that round, melodic heft that makes simple lines feel like hooks. Harry Harding’s drums are punchy and conversational, the kind of playing that nudges and answers the vocal rather than just marking time. Together they pull Americana, indie and blues rock into a single current, then crank the amp. You can hear the sweat in the corners.

As a sequence, Maverick Thinker moves like a set played to a crowd that needs waking up. The opener comes in hot, guitars slightly frayed, vocals half-sung and half-spoken, and you can almost see the three of them lock eyes as the first chorus hits. Midway through, they loosen the grip, finding a pocket where Joseph’s voice leans into reflection and the bass does a slow sway. The closer shows off their knack for a late-night drift, vocals up front, cymbals whispering, the kind of ending that has you flipping the record back to side A without thinking about it.

There is a literary streak here, but it never feels academic. Joseph came up through the singer songwriter world before forming William The Conqueror, and he writes like someone who knows how to leave a doorway open for the listener. These songs carry characters who stumble, learn, shrug, then carry on. So when the band hits a ragged guitar figure or a sticky backbeat, it lands like a memory coming into focus. No flab, no showboating. Just three musicians trusting the song and playing to its edges.

Spin the Maverick Thinker vinyl and you get that live-room closeness in a way streaming never quite catches. The guitars fuzz and bloom, the kick drum sits deep, and the vocals have air around them that suits the grain in Joseph’s delivery. If you are the type who lines up William The Conqueror albums on vinyl, this one earns a spot next to the first two. It is also the album I tell friends to start with when they ask what the band sounds like, because it captures the whole thing in one shot, the storytelling, the grit, and the quiet that follows the noise.

It helps that the record arrived at a time when a lot of us needed songs built for small rooms. These tracks feel like bar lights and cracked windows, music for the drive home after the last call. The choruses do not overreach. The hooks sneak up on you. And the band never loses that slightly crooked swagger that separates a good rock record from a polite one. There are little details that reward repeat listens, from a harmony that only shows up once to a guitar tone that sizzles on the edge of feedback then pulls back at the last second.

If you collect, this is the kind of title you want to grab before it disappears and you are chasing copies at inflated prices. Look for William The Conqueror vinyl in your local bins, or buy William The Conqueror records online if you prefer a quick, safe delivery. I have seen Maverick Thinker vinyl turn up in the new arrivals rack at a Melbourne record store, and I have also seen it fly out of small shops that focus on vinyl records Australia wide. Either way, it is worth the hunt. The band’s catalog makes sense in the format, sleeves scuffed by real use, grooves that like a little volume.

What keeps me coming back is the way Maverick Thinker balances punch and patience. It is confident but not slick, loud but never bludgeoning. It has the feel of a trio that found its stride and decided to document it while the spark was fresh. If you have been waiting for a modern roots rock record that nods to tradition while sounding stubbornly its own, this is it. Put the needle down. Let the room tilt. Then start the side again.