When you read a press release that name-checks some of your very favourite bands (in this case Blackberry Smoke, The Quireboys, The Black Crowes ) you always feel a certain trepidation along with that wild hope that you can add another name to that list. 99 times out of 100 of course you don’t add to that list.
I stumbled upon this one by chance when I heard second single ‘Mint Jelly’ which does have that very ZZ Top opening riff followed by what sounds like a real ‘Rock City Angels’ groove it was enough to inquire when the album was on the way and it arrived just on time for another log weekend of isolation.
Opener ‘I’m Ready’ opens like a slice of 70’s American Hard Rock heaven with a vocal that sounds like a Bluesy Tyla and a Southern rock groove that could have been made 40 years ago, which to me is always the hallmark of a great song on an album that lacks pretension when it looks back over its shoulder to simpler and better days.
That’s followed by the first single lifted from the album ‘Running So Long’ which with its swirling keys and distinctive phrasing is very Tom Petty in style and flavour but most importantly another great song.
After that opening of course you always wonder if a band has fired all its guns at once. Part of the answer to that comes in the form of ‘Sweet Lies’ a lighter countrified offering given texture by a nice whiskey-soaked vocal; and also with the wonderfully dirty groove of ‘Give It Good’ (one of my current favs that reminds me of mid-period The Black Crowes) and the harder and harsher ‘Sleeping’. All of them as well as the psychedelic Bluesy groove of the masterful ‘Sorcery’ more than pass muster and on an album that runs to 15 tracks that’s pretty remarkable not to sniff out a little filler.
There’s another change of pace and style for ‘Be There in the Morning’ which has a wonderful singer-songwriter lilt and even hints at driving us back to the sixties. That is followed by the mid tempo groove ‘n’ roll of ‘I’d Do Anything’ before we hit the wonderful ‘Mint Jelly’ and we’re not even two thirds of the way to our destination.
‘Rebel’ adds some compelling Soul to the mix; and ‘Steel Horse’ some blue sky Blues that really recalls the early days of The Dogs D’Amour, before ‘Keep Calm and Carry On’ again takes that mid-tempo groove and carves out another memorable moment.
‘Razor’s Edge’ if I’m honest was probably the only song here that didn’t grab me instantly, with its Prog-tinged elongated intro and darker feel, it’s a grower and ironically one of my favorites six listens in! Penultimate track ‘Break It Down Slowly’ is a nice Crowes-like shuffle that could have ridden on an album like ‘Amorica’ and closing track ‘Only A Soldier’ is one of those Southern Rock epics that no one writes anymore… it’s a huge song to go out with.
After a remarkable album like that it is worth quoting a snippet of the press release: “The album as a whole was in some ways a reaction to’ The White Raven’ (the band’s previous studio album)”, explains Thompson. “Whilst we like that record, we felt that it lacked some variety and we wanted to create a more esoteric album. One that encapsulated all the different inspirations we have and that shows the variety of songwriting that we create. Our favourite bands wrote and recorded over a vast array of genres and styles and we felt that made the albums more interesting to listen to. The album title came from a friend of ours who once described our rehearsals as a Ramshackle jam.”
These guys could well be your new favourite band.
9/10
TRACKLIST: 1. I’m Ready | 2. Running So Long | 3, Sweet Lies | 4. Give It Good | 5. Sleeping | 6. Sorcery | 7. Be There In The Morning | 8. I’d Do Anything | 9. Mint Jelly | 10. Rebel | 11. Steel Horse | 12. Keep Calm and Carry On | 13. Razor’s Edge | 14. Break It Down Slowly | 15. Only A Soldier
