I don't usually pay an awful lot of attention to album sleeves, but when I saw the semi-grizzled guys staring out of this one, all dressed in black, something told me they knew what they were about and the music would be good.
Well it's better than good, it's bloody magic; the best, sweetest country rock I've heard since I don't know when. Some piano, some mandolin, some acoustic guitar ; mostly gorgeously interlaced electric guitars and plenty of lap and pedal steel for that country colour; vocal harmonies that take you back to the California sound of the early 70s and a very fine, solid rhythm section. The first four tracks hit you with every element of that country rock sound that you've ever loved, and sounds fresh to boot. There's a narrow line between pulling this off and just sounding cliched and tired. These guys pull it off, and sound so sweet and inventive together - there don't seem to be any over-inflated egos trying to run off with the whole thing.
Lead singer Gavin Munro wrote all but one of the tracks and clearly puts his lyrics to the service of the musical ideas, so that while his lines about dysfunctional relationships or
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hitting the road out of town are hardly devoid of meaning, they're more of the type of lyric that is there for the necessary sound of the human voice in the musical mix. A phrase or a chorus hook lodges in your brain and you bellow along, not caring what the hell you're singing about.
In a relaxed sort of a way, thery're a "busy" band, in the sense that nearly every song has so much little detail in it; little runs on the guitars or piano that embellish the melody and give you new joys to unearth on repeated listenings. In fact my only real gripe is that there is an imbalance toward low-key numbers, and that the 15 tracks could have been shaved to 12 or 13. Then we would be gasping for more, just how an audience should be left.
By all accounts, Southpaw are a storming live act, so catching them on the festival circuit somewhere this summer is something to look forward to.
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