Doin’ the black top blues
BEYONDTHERANCH
SaltbushSix
MGM
http://www.facebook.com/SaltbushSi
TheAyers
Rocketteswere
oneofBrisbane’shottest
bandsduringthe1980s,
especiallywhena young
guitaristnamedKeithUrban
joinedfora fewyears.After
a seriesoflivegigs,manyof
thebandmembersincluding
TheRanch’sdrummer
PeterClarke,headedto
NashvilletorecordBeyond
TheRanch. WithUK-based
DarcyCrawfordupfront,
SaltbushSixhashitthenail
onthehead,especiallyon
countryrocktracks‘Live
FromOurHouse(Saturday
Night)’and‘That’sOur
Thang’.There’sa couple
ofdrivingsongstoo– ‘The
Windshield’is aboutlooking
ahead,andtheboysare
captivatedbycurveson
‘Swerve’.Theradiofriendly
‘YouDon’tKnowMeLonely’
andtheromanticballad
‘ComeOnIn’topoffthis
classyalbum.RIDEMEBACKHOME
WillieNelson
Sony/Legacy
http://www.willienelson.com
Followinglast
year’sdalliance
withFrankSinatra’shits
onMyWay, WillieNelson
returnstofamiliarterritory
forRideMeBackHome, his
69thstudioalbum.There
arethreeneworiginalshere,
co-writtenwithhisproducer
BuddyCannon,including
thetongue-in-cheek‘Seven
YearItch’,whichis along
thelinesof‘TenWithA
Two’.There’salsoa number
ofhandpickedcovers.Billy
Joel’s‘JustTheWayYou
Are’is themostfamiliarwith
Nelsoncruisingthroughit
inhisowninimitablestyle
amida jazzyguitarbacking.
HistwosonsLukasand
Micahjoininforthewaltzy
MacDaviscomposition‘It’s
HardToHumble’,andhe
addsa coupleofGuyClark’s
songs,includingtheemotive
“coming-to-America”track
‘ImmigrantEyes’.Country
Corner
xxeROAD SOUNDS Greg Bush
As wellasbeinginvolvedinroadtransport
mediaforthepast 20 years,GREGBUSH
hasstronglinks tothe musicindustry.
AformerGoldenGuitarjudgeforthe
CountryMusicAwards ofAustralia,Greg
alsohada three-yearstintasanARIA
Awards judge inthelate1990sandwrote
for and edited several music magazines.ownerdriver.com.au AUGUST 2019 59
Sound advice for those long hours on the bitumen
FROM MUSCLE SHOALS
Foy Vance
Gingerbread Man/Warner
http://www.foyvance.com
Supporting
Ed Sheeran
on tour has
paid dividends
for Northern
Irishman Foy
Vance. Now
signed to
Sheeran’s Gingerbread Man Records label,
Vance dusted off some of his original,
unrecorded soul-styled songs and headed
to the legendary Fame studios in Muscle
Shoals, Alabama. With two of its original
session musicians from the ’60s and
’70s (Spooner Oldham and David Hood)
in the studio band, Vance has released
arguably his gutsiest album to date with
From Muscle Shoals. With a brass band,
female backing singers and Vance’s
soulful vocals, the sound is a blast from
the past. Laid back, highly personal tracks
such as ‘Pain Never Hurt Me Like Love’ are
interspersed with upbeat, funky numbers
like ‘Good Time Southern Soul’. Foy Vance
is no Otis Redding, but he’s right up there
among his contemporaries.SAN ISABEL
Jamestown Revival
Thirty Tigers/Cooking Vinyl
http://www.jamestownrevival.com
In contrast to its
second album
The Education
Of A Wandering
Man, Jamestown
Revival has
returned to its
“uncomplicated”
roots for third release San Isabel. It’s a
mostly acoustic album, with the Texas
band’s founding members Zach Chance
and Jonathan Clay again delivering tight
harmonies – like a modern-day Everly
Brothers. The songs range from the
hand-clapping ‘This Too Shall Pass’, to
the poignant ‘Killing You Killing Me’, the
latter song building to an atmospheric
piece. There’s a host of supporting studio
musicians, including co-producer Jamie
Mefford on acoustic guitar and banjo,
and they combine expertly for a laid-
back version of the ’60s classic ‘California
Dreamin’. The other 10 tracks are
Chance-Clay originals, and they all have
merit. ‘Who Hung The Moon’ is a quiet,
waltz-timed song about a psychedelic
experience, while crisp guitar-picking is a
highlight on ‘Mountain Preamble’.LET’S ROCK
The Black Keys
Easy Eye/Nonesuch
http://www.theblackkeys.com
It’s been a five-
year gap between
The Black Keys’
previous release
Turn Blue and
new album Let’s
Rock. Not that the
rock duo (Dan
Auerbach and Patrick Carney) have been
idle; much of their time has been spent
operating their Easy Eye Sound studio
in Nashville as well as other projects.
Containing 12 new original tracks,
Let’s Rock is a reminder of Auerbach’s
trademark edgy guitar work and his
likeable, unaffected vocals. The rockin’
‘Lo/Hi’, with strong backing harmonies
from Leisa Hans and Ashley Wilcoxson,
is already a chart-topping single in
the US. The beat-driven ‘Go’ is another
standout, there’s darkness and a touch of
grunge on ‘Shine A Light’, and obsession
on the slower ‘Walk Across The Water’.
The Black Keys tone it down but up the
commercialism on ‘Tell Me Lies’, and the
pop rocker ‘Sit Around and Miss You’.
FALSE ALARM
Two Door Cinema Club
http://www.twodoorcinemaclub.com
Prolifica Inc/PIAS
False Alarm,
album number
four from
Northern
Ireland’s Two
Door Cinema
Club, shows
maturity from
its early electronic pop sound. Sure, there
are reminders of the trio’s beginnings,
but the production is fuller, the music
more inventive and the beat’s still there.
At times it’s reminiscent of early ’80s
Brit dance pop, such as ‘Talk’ where band
members Alex Trimble, Sam Halliday and
Kevin Baird bring out their full armoury
of synths. Zimbabwe group Mokoomba’s
backing vocals add another dimension
to the equally upbeat ‘Satisfaction
Guaranteed’ and the slower tempo of
‘So Many People’ maintains Two Door
Cinema Club’s commercial appeal. Lead
vocalist Trimble brings out the falsetto
throughout False Alarm, notably on the
dramatic ‘Already Gone’, but he’s more
rock than pop on ‘Dirty Air’, arguably the
album’s best track. Fans of Human League
and Heaven 17 will lap this up.
HELP US STRANGER
The Saboteurs
Third Man Records/PIAS
http://www.theraconteurs.com
In an odd
situation, US
rockers The
Raconteurs are
known as The
Saboteurs in
Australia due to
a Queensland
jazz band holding the Raconteurs’ name.
The Raconteurs (sorry, Saboteurs) are
up to album number three with Help Us
Stranger, their first release in 11 years.
More of a supergroup, its members are
Jack White (of the White Stripes), Brendan
Benson, Jack Lawrence and Patrick Keeler.
Help Us Stranger is full of creative rock
tracks, with 11 originals plus a lively
blues version of evergreen Scottish folkie
Donovan’s ‘Hey Gyp (Dig The Slowness)’.
The guitar-riff heavy ‘Bored and Relaxed’
sets the scene; its energy rivalled by ‘Don’t
Bother Me’, a Deep Purple-type track of
varying tempos. White has concerns over
his sister’s welfare on ‘Sunday Driver’, and
Benson is equally adept on ‘Now That
You’re Gone’. A great rock album.BLACK PUMAS
Black Pumas
ATO/Iner tia
http://www.theblackpumas.com
A chance 2017
meeting between
Grammy-
winning
guitarist-
producer
Adrian Quesada
and singer-
songwriter Eric Burton in Austin, Texas
led to the formation of Black Pumas
and ultimately their self-titled debut
album. At times Burton’s vocals sound
like Robert Cray, but with a bigger
range and funkier. At other times it’s a
nod back to Motown Records’ heyday.
Quesada’s inspiration for ‘Black Moon
Rising’ was the 2017 solar eclipse, the
brass section comes to the fore on ‘Fire’,
and Burton takes a casual walk in the
park in ‘Colors’. There’s an air of optimism
amid dark clouds on ‘Old Man’, ‘Oct 33’
is a slow lament, but for sheer impact
‘Touch The Sky’ is the standout. However,
the mostly acoustic final track ‘Sweet
Conversations’ is worth waiting for.
Lyric-wise it’s all relationships, but it’s
the soulful, funky sound that brings
these songs to life.