The English power trio whose slinky, reverb-soaked guitar riff you already know by heart, because it opens every episode of Better Call Saul. This is the band behind the theme, and the deep, gritty catalogue underneath it.
The Short Version
Who Are These Guys?
Little Barrie are a British power trio built around guitarist and singer Barrie Cadogan and bassist Lewis Wharton. They formed in Nottingham around 2000 and made their name in the London scene playing a lean, vintage-sounding blend of garage rock, freakbeat, 1960s UK R&B, surf, funk and neo-psychedelia. Two guitars' worth of ideas from one guitar, a bass that plays like a second lead, and drums that swing hard.
Most people meet them without knowing it. In 2015 they wrote and recorded the main title theme to Better Call Saul, that woozy, bent-note surf-noir riff that plays over the opening of every episode. It is one of the most recognisable pieces of TV music of the last decade, and it is pure Little Barrie.
The other thing to know is that Cadogan is one of Britain's most in-demand sideman guitarists. When he is not fronting Little Barrie he has toured and recorded with Primal Scream, Paul Weller, Morrissey, Saint Etienne, Edwyn Collins, Spiritualized and more. The band you are about to fall for is also a working musician's band.
Tone first, always. Illustrative image, AI-generated.From Nottingham to the Opening Credits
The Story
Little Barrie is a slow-burn story: two decades of records, a devoted cult following, a soundtrack moment that made them famous to millions who never learned their name, and a loss that changed the band forever.
c. 2000
Formed in Nottingham
Barrie Cadogan builds the band around his love of Doc Watson-fast R&B, freakbeat and vintage soul. Early lineups cycle through drummers while the trio format, guitar, bass, drums, stays fixed as the whole identity.
2005
We Are Little Barrie
The debut, recorded with Orange Juice legend Edwyn Collins producing, announces the sound: warm, live, all vintage gear and no fat. Collins becomes a long-running creative ally.
2006–2007
Stand Your Ground, and a call from Paul Weller
The second album (with production input from Dan the Automator) sharpens the songwriting. Around the same time Cadogan's reputation as a guitarist explodes: he joins Primal Scream's live band and plays on Paul Weller records.
2007
Virgil Howe joins on drums
Virgil Howe, son of Yes guitarist Steve Howe, becomes the drummer. His swing and feel lock the trio into its definitive, most beloved lineup for the next decade.
2011
King of the Waves
A harder, surfier, more psychedelic record. Its opener Surf Hell becomes their calling card, picked up by the video game Rocksmith and a string of TV syncs.
2014
Shadow
Darker and moodier, leaning into krautrock pulse and cinematic atmosphere. In hindsight it is the sound that made them the obvious choice for a certain television producer.
2015
The Better Call Saul theme
The band writes and records the main title theme for the Breaking Bad spin-off. The full-length version appears on the official Season 1 soundtrack that November. Overnight, their riff is heard by millions every week.
2017
Death Express, and the loss of Virgil Howe
The band releases Death Express in the summer. On 12 September 2017, Virgil Howe died suddenly and unexpectedly, on the same day his father Steve was performing with Yes. It was a devastating blow, and the band paused.
2020–2022
Quatermass Seven and the Malcolm Catto years
Little Barrie return in collaboration with Malcolm Catto of The Heliocentrics, leaning deeper into heavy, hypnotic, instrumental grooves across Quatermass Seven and its expansions.
2025–2026
Electric War and Gravity Freeze
The band keeps moving with Electric War (2025) and the brand-new Gravity Freeze (2026), proof the fuzz-soul engine is still running two decades on.
Four Videos, One Conversion
Start Here
Start with the riff you already know, then follow it back into the catalogue. These four are the fastest possible education in what Little Barrie do.
Surf-noir on a desert highway, the mood the theme conjures. Illustrative image, AI-generated.
01 · The One You Know
"Better Call Saul" — the full main title theme
The bent, reverb-drenched surf riff that opens every episode, here in its full-length form. Written and recorded by the band in 2015 and released on the official Season 1 soundtrack. Start here, then realise there is a whole band attached to it.
02 · The Calling Card
"Surf Hell" — from King of the Waves, 2011
Their most-synced song and the best single-track argument for the band: relentless surf-garage drive, a monster fuzz riff, and the Cadogan/Wharton/Howe trio firing on all cylinders. If the theme hooked you, this seals it.
03 · The Songcraft
"More Bad Miles Of Road" — official video
Proof that under the fuzz there are real songs. This one shows the soul and R&B side of the band, the groove and the vocal, not just the guitar heroics. The sound of a trio that has played a thousand miles of clubs.
04 · The Deep Cut
"It Isn't Soul" — official video
A slinky, hook-driven cut that lands right in the pocket between garage rock and vintage soul. Play it back to back with the theme and you will hear the same DNA: economy, tone, and a riff that refuses to leave your head.
The Studio Catalogue
The Albums
Two decades of records, from the Edwyn Collins-produced debut to the heavy instrumental grooves of the Malcolm Catto era. The red-topped cards mark the best places to dive in.
2005
We Are Little Barrie
The debut, produced with Edwyn Collins. Warm, live and vintage, it lays down the whole blueprint: garage, soul and R&B played by a trio with nothing to hide behind.
Harder, surfier, more psychedelic, and home to Surf Hell. The best entry point if you want the fuzz-forward, riff-driven side of the band. Virgil Howe on unstoppable form.
Darker and more cinematic, with a krautrock pulse under the garage. The mood that arguably won them the Better Call Saul gig a year later. A quiet favourite.
The last album of the Virgil Howe era, released shortly before his death. Propulsive and raw, it is the sound of the classic trio at full tilt one final time.
The return, made with Malcolm Catto of The Heliocentrics. Heavier, hypnotic and largely instrumental, it opens a whole new deep-groove chapter for the band.
Two YouTube Music playlists: a First Listen from the Better Call Saul theme back through the catalogue, and a Deep Cuts set for the greasier corners. Hit the button on either card to play it.
Little Barrie is, and has always been, a trio, the whole aesthetic is what three musicians can do with vintage gear and no safety net.
The rain-slick London world the band's sound comes out of. Illustrative image, AI-generated.
Barrie CadoganGuitar / VoxBandleader and one of Britain's most sought-after guitarists; a sideman for Primal Scream, Paul Weller, Morrissey, Saint Etienne, Edwyn Collins and Spiritualized
Lewis WhartonBass / VoxThe other constant since the beginning; plays melodic, lead-like bass that fills the space a rhythm guitar would
Virgil HoweDrums 2007–17Son of Yes guitarist Steve Howe. The swing behind the classic lineup; died suddenly on 12 September 2017. Deeply missed
Malcolm CattoDrums / Prod.Of The Heliocentrics; collaborator on the heavy instrumental Quatermass-era records from 2020 on
A note on Virgil
Virgil Howe's death in September 2017 was sudden and unexpected, and it came the same day his father, Steve Howe, was on stage with Yes. He was the drummer on Little Barrie's most-loved records, including the Better Call Saul theme. When you hear that swing under the fuzz, that is largely him.
The Roots of the Sound
Influences
Little Barrie's greasy fuzz-soul comes straight out of vintage R&B, funk, and British beat music. Here is the source.
Stax Soul
Booker T. & the M.G.'s
The tight, greasy, organ-and-guitar instrumental soul that is Little Barrie's blueprint.
Little Barrie are players first, so the good interviews get into the guitars, the tones, and a lifetime of session work. Two to start with.
Interview · Paul Weller Fan Podcast
Barrie Cadogan, In Depth
A long-form conversation with guitarist Barrie Cadogan on the trio's sound, his deep catalogue of session work, and playing alongside the likes of Paul Weller, Morrissey, and Primal Scream.
Once the riff has its hooks in you, there is a whole vintage-soul, freakbeat world on the other side of it.
The soundtrack version — track down the full-length Better Call Saul theme on the official Season 1 soundtrack. It is longer and richer than the TV edit.
Barrie Cadogan's session work — dig into Primal Scream's live records, Paul Weller's 22 Dreams-era band, and Saint Etienne. Once you know his playing, you start hearing him everywhere.
Edwyn Collins connection — Collins produced their early albums and sang backing vocals on Money in Paper. The Little Barrie / Orange Juice / post-punk-soul thread is a rewarding one to pull.
The Malcolm Catto era — if you like the heavier, instrumental, Heliocentrics-adjacent grooves, the Quatermass records and beyond are a different, hypnotic side of the band.
Where to start tonight
Play the Better Call Saul theme, then Surf Hell, then put on King of the Waves end to end. That is the whole pitch in about fifty minutes, and you will never hear those opening credits the same way again.
