(December)
Perhaps not a great deal to add as Sleazegrinder reviewed it elsewhere but I've just about got a tuppence, and precious little else, left in ma pocket that I wanna add.... Seemingly tragically unheard of and bypassed and I wish I'd been aware of this back in '98 when it came out. I'll more than readily agree with the welcome likenesses to Paul Westerberg (especially on Christmastime is Cruel), Mr. Tyla and Nikki Sudden, almost to the extent that he's like a long lost brother who was dispatched to the States at birth while Tyla and Nikki grew up sucking on short straws in Wolverhampton and Leamington Spa. So if you're picturing some rootsy downbeat brokenhearted balladry then you'd be right. Even moreso if you twist in a swirl of majestic, kaleidoscopic psychedelic influences and melodies wafting around a soft fragrance (oh, editor, purleeze) of late era Beatles (on Normal Town and the orientalized Tomorrow Never Knows-esque Rip Out the Sky), Jellyfish and T-Rex, o'course. Even brings to mind some of the stuff off Gilby Clarke's first album, like Johanna's Chopper. But there ain't no sweet, saccharine hippy bullshit flimsy whimsy going on, there's a hard edged, hard bit ragged sensibility in these troubadours tales of love and loss and dark, cold, misty nights. Also reminds me of Izzy (and not just cos The Georgia Sats Rick Richards popped along to lend a hand - closer Try'n Like A Fool tips a hat, or floppy cap, to The Sats Hand To Mouth) and Keef if his solo output had been anything more than mediocre - well, Izzy then, yeah? and his voice also has traces of Keef circa Happy or Before They Make Me Run, prior to when the Rebel Yell, coke and Marlboro Reds really gave his vocal cords what for. And this isn't in any way meant to disparage the guy Rivers cos he doesn't sound the same in an aping or uninspired way, there's just the hints of these other great cats wandering about and standing the guy a drink. This would stand up easily alongside the main 'Mat, The Jacobites or whoever. And what a good neighbouhood to be hanging (by a thread) in too. It would seem this should be filed under "Forgotten" or "Misplaced". - Stu Gibson