As far as rockabilly revival albums go, they don’t come much better than this. Rusti Steel and The Star Tones have done it again with a supreme batch of authentic sounding rockabilly numbers that would easily find a home in the 50s. ‘Baby, Won’t You Baby Me’ is a prime example of this authentic delivery with its high desires matching the pacey tempo and equalled by the guitar-driven ‘See My Baby Rock’. It is the rip-roaring ‘Prisoner Of Your Charms’, however, that really competes for supremacy here, and suggests that Rusti and The Star Tones are more than capable of turning it up a notch or two. Despite being a tad too long at fifteen tracks, ‘Café A-La Rock’ is leading proof that Rusti and his Star Tones are governing the pack when it comes to the rockin’ circuit of revival bands.
Album Reviews
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Sons Of The Gun
The Bullets
Western Star
Straight outta the Western Star stable come highly tipped trio The Bullets with an array of original rockin’ compositions. ‘Sons Of The Gun’ is the end result of a busy period spent honing and crafting the contents of this long player under the watchful eye of Alan Wilson (The Sharks). Songs brim with a raw energy such as ‘Jump When I Want’ and muscular ‘Mean To Me Baby’ as does the deceptively titled ‘Moonshine’ with its merest hint of twanging guitar yet howling at the moon vocal supplied by Brett Waters. There is petulance afoot with ‘I Don’t Wanna’ whereas ‘The Beast In Me’ contains traces of Johnny Burnette and the Rock ‘n’ Roll Trio which is always a winning ingredient. It is left to the less energized and more country leanings of ‘Desperate Man’ to reveal another facet to The Bullets which is further compounded with the Western flavoured and always welcome brass of ‘Son Of A Gun’. The betting odds have just shortened on The Bullets as most likely artist to breakthrough this year.
Traces Of You
Eva & The Heartmaker
Sony
“Nothing is the same as it used to be” has a definite ring of truth about it from opening track, and real grower, ‘Too Late’. Falling between indie pop and near-indie guitar seductiveness the likes of which The Cardigans used to churn out with apparent ease, Eva & The Heartmaker has constructed an album which, on first listen, may sound familiar but with repeat listens reveals a considerable amount of hidden subtleties that simply delight the senses. Look no further than the almost soaring and Alphabeat-esque title track ‘Traces of You’ to the more electronica influenced ‘Won’t Stop Loving You’ and infectious ‘Comes Around’ for such evidence. Only ‘Holding Pattern’ sounds out of place with its acoustic delivery but is quickly forgotten due to the irresistible pull of ballad ‘Calling You’.
Together We Made Music
Chas Hodges
Western Star
Currently touring the length and breadth of the UK due to popular demand as none other than Chas & Dave, ‘Together We Made Music’ sees Chas Hodges flying the flag alone in a tribute to some of the great musicians he has had the pleasure of working with whether as providing backing support or merely strumming a few well-known ditties with the likes of The Beatles or Cliff Richard. Such details can be garnered from the comprehensive liner notes that are as compelling as the covers selected for this solo effort such as ‘Bring A Little Water Sylvie’, ‘Crazy Arms’ and tribute to Screaming Lord Sutch ‘Don’t You Just Know It’. It remains, however, closing number ‘Where Am I Gonna Find Ya’ – a Hodges and initial starting point for co-writer Dave Peacock to pen their own contribution – that really sticks in the throat and offers a timely reminder of why the duo are held so affectionately.
Infamy
The Sharks
Western Star
The return of Alan Wilson’s The Sharks has been greatly anticipated by the rockabilly and psychobilly fraternity, and what a worthwhile wait new album ‘Infamy’ is proving to be. If it had not been destined for the music world, then a large proportion of ‘Infamy’ could have passed for a criminology thesis concerning the causes and effects of crime, due to its tip of the hat references to the criminal underbelly of society. Despite the darker tones of the lyrical content, ‘Infamy’ is not without considerable humour as ‘House Of Wax’ gives the impression of a silent black and white film complete with hapless victims hotly pursued by a relentless killer, whereas ‘She’s Fallen In Love With The Monster-Man’ conjures up much hilarity with its sweetly seductive girl group vocals and lines offering, ‘Now the monster was weird and just a little unreal, seemed kinda short of that sex appeal’. The swinging rhythms of ‘The King Of London’ and ‘I Can’t Believe You’re Back’ details the infamous exploits of Roy ‘Pretty Boy’ Shaw and Ronnie Biggs respectively, leaving the upbeat tempo of ‘Breakin’ Bones’ to shift theme (Evel Knievel of all things!) along with the intimate ‘Desert Diamond’ making this a true return to form.
På Vei Hjem
Razika
Warner Music/K. Dahl Eftf
The semi-ska revival begins here with Bergen’s Razika. The gears of ‘På Vei Hjem’ really begin to shift in motion from the off with ‘Verdens Beste By’ (‘The World’s Best City’) opening drumroll setting proceedings up nicely for the dissatisfactory opinion of ‘Oslo’ with its; ‘Så kjære Oslo, du ser så bra ut men er ingenting for oss’ (‘So, dear Oslo, you look good but are not for us’) cleverly wrapped up in a sweetly addictive chorus and yarn concerning the complexities of a distant relationship. ‘Oss To For Alltid’ (‘Us Two For Always’) and ‘Gang På Gang’ (‘Time After Time’) will appease the indie brigade and hence the aforementioned ‘semi-ska’ revival as Razika refuses to be shackled with the constraints that labels often bring. The final call of the delicate sounding ‘Bli Her’ (‘Stay Here’) and almost ‘knees-up’ jaunt of ‘Jeg Gir Alt For At Du Skal Gi Deg’ (‘I Give Everything So That You Give Yourself’) bring this album to a solid conclusion. It will be interesting to see where Razika go from here as this is one fine follow-up record.
Someday
Susanna Hoffs
Baroque Folk
Criminally overlooked last year, Susanna Hoffs’ ‘Someday’ is a delightful mixture of low-key pop (‘November Sun’), slightly jaunty brass (‘Picture Me’), and filled with string-laden wonders such as ‘One Day’ and ‘All I Need’. Having recently resumed duties with The Bangles to much critical acclaim, Susanna Hoffs reveals enough depth and talent here to make this solo career a full-time project. As it stands, ‘Someday’ is a glorious album that is worthy of anyone’s attention.
FlashBlack
Hanne Kolstø
Karmakosmetix
A firm favourite within FLW towers, Hanne Kolstø’s brand of indie art-pop is reminiscent – visually – of the kind of oddities that littered the UK independent scene during the mid-eighties, with Felt springing to mind here. Musically, ‘FlashBlack’ is a real melange of sounds with traces of the Cocteau Twins (‘Pretty Veil’), My Bloody Valentine (ditto), early Depeche Mode to name a few, to more straightforward folk-influenced numbers such as ‘Far Ahead’ and ‘Not Looking’. It remains, however, that the steady climb of ‘LA-LA-LA-LA Lovesong’ and the indie guitar-rock of the rather excellent ‘Carousel’ lead the way when it comes to standout tracks. FLW waits with baited breath for the next instalment in Kolstø’s proposed trilogy.
A Hundred Nights Like This
Captain Gone
Nordic Records
‘A Hundred Nights Like This’ is a timely reminder of the kind of melancholic indie pop Neil and Tim Finn conjured up when Crowded House weren’t offering, musically, one of their more uplifting compositions. This remains an album suited to the wee small hours as lead vocalist Jon Arne Bjørnstad often sings in a hushed tone and complemented by strings and occasional faint splashes of brass instrumentation revealing a sense of longing and reflection concerning past relationships. Album opener ‘Going For A Song’ perfectly sums up the mood here, with its sense of trepidation and call for resistance when love comes to town, whereas former single ‘Romeo’ adds some bite with its tetchy guitars and cleverly-crafted lyrics eking out a wry smile during; ‘Romeo, you’re letting down the show, You’re getting awful slow boy, We’ll have to let you go, You showed such promise at the start’. As far as debut albums go, ‘A Hundred Nights Like This’ is an intriguing body of work drowning in a pool of tears as love is clearly murder.
Any Old Trollop, Same Old Port
Folk Grinder
Koozie Johns
Riding a wave of sea shanty rock ‘n’ roll, Folk Grinder breathes life into a steadily increasing tired indie genre. Armed mainly with an acoustic guitar, accordion and piano in order to transmit their tales of love, loss and regret, Koozie Johns and Miro Snejdr remain two souls lost at sea. Nowhere is this more evident than the lure of ‘England Dreaming’ stretching out its nostalgic embrace to the simply gorgeous ‘Old Habits (Can Be Hard To Kick)’, complete with backing vocals, and ‘If You Need A Little Love’ tugging at the heartstrings. Despite such magnificence on display, it is left to the deeply personal ‘Halfway Home’ to offer some salvation from the choppy waters Folk Grinder has experienced and will no doubt continue to find themselves adrift in.
All American
Superfamily
Das Kirurg
Slightly distraught at the notion that Superfamily could change their synths for an all-out electric album consisting only of guitars, the band thankfully offer no such thing as ‘All American’ sees the band sink further into the quagmire of early eighties New Romantic pop, which is a welcome relief to the ears of FLW. In fact, Norway’s Superfamily could have supplied the soundtrack for the BBC smash hit TV drama ‘Ashes to Ashes’, with many being none the wiser as to the actual era this band inhabit.
Sure, there are nods to the band’s back catalogue with ‘Don’t Say A Single Word’ which is trademark Superfamily, but no less compelling as a result, but it is the manic delivery – reminiscent of prime era ‘Associates ‘The Affectionate Punch’ and ‘Sulk’ – of title track ‘All American’ which really arouses the senses and flexes its anxieties concerning the threat of Americanisation on a global scale.
Where this fourth effort differs from previous Superfamily releases is that the reins are slightly tightened in terms of a less-is-more approach due to the minimalist, ‘I’m On Your Side’ and more restrained, ‘Some Girls’. If anything, it’s time to transmit this ‘All American’ frequency to more distant shores so that the band can reach the stellar heights their music clearly deserves.
Wilderness
Alfred Hall
Sony
Shimmering in the summer sunlight despite being engulfed by personal anxieties, the aptly titled ‘Intro’ reveals the first insight into the world of Alfred Hall. The following set of songs suggest nothing but a promising debut album as ‘Wilderness’ is steeped in a mixture of gentle and often uplifting melodies sighting such contemporaries as Hurts and the often forgotten It’s Immaterial as among possible influences. ‘Too Young’ is simply gorgeous in its execution with its sparse arrangements echoing The Blue Nile’s classic ‘A Walk Across The Rooftops’, whereas ‘Somewhere Beautiful’ is exactly a depiction of what it says on the tin. If Alfred Hall can maintain the consistency shown throughout this first offering, then the future certainly looks bright for the boys from the wilderness as the neighbours of Drammen have something new to gossip about over the garden fence.