Hailing from Boston, but sounding like their hearts belong further south and west, this is The Stumbleweeds second album. With an old-fashioned rocking country sound, they wear their retro ambitions on their sleeve - a front porch picture of the band looking pretty 1950s-ish, and a track listing divided between "Side One" and "Side Two". Guitars, drums and stand-up bass support the lusty country-girl vocals of Lynette Lenker, and the tracks divide pretty evenly between old classics from the likes of Wanda Jackson and Harlan Howard, and brand new songs written in the old style.
Now there's no denying the energy and enthusiasm of the Stumbleweeds, but they could do with some variation in pace and mood, because I, for one, felt like I was being battered into submission long before the end was in sight. Actually the primary problem is the guitar sound, which too often is harsh, aggressive and over-dominant. The best tracks are where the guitar is just a piece in the picture, and country guitar at that, not the rock guitar sound that intrudes too often. It'd be nice to hear Lynette Lenker's vocal performance have more variety, too. The cover of "I Love You Because" highlights all the worst things in this record, all but completely lacking in emotion or subtlety, and therefore pointless. On the plus side, the best tracks include the new songs, with Lynnette Lenker's own "Doggone Thing", being perhaps the best of all: slower and more restrained, it has the wonderful lines:
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"You ain't never done a doggone thing for me/ Unless you count endless pregnancy" - a classic country song if ever there was one. No doubt they're a band that exist for gigging and the energy and volume would provide for a great Saturday night - singing and dancing and drinking ( even if they do also cover "A Girl Don't Have To Drink To Have Fun" )...
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