Their name suggests a check-shirted Midwestern outfit, yet CHARLEY CRUZ & THE LOST SOULS are in fact a seasoned, Nudie-shirted roots-rock roadshow comin' straight outta, er, Utrecht in the Netherlands, even if their new album 'The Last Warrior' was mastered in the more sympathetic surroundings of Nashville.
Like fine UK roots purveyors such as Michael Weston King, however, this band's geographical background really shouldn't be used as a stick to beat them with. Indeed, if an established roots-y outfit such as, say, The Bottle Rockets had made this album, then they'd rightly be receiving their dues from all quarters.
So let's give credit where credit's due. 'The Last Warrior' is a versatile, lived-in album from a quartet who know how to fry their roots-rock onions. Cruz's voice has a plaintive, yearning quality (a little like a less whiskey-soaked Jay Farrar) which impresses, while his talented cohorts clearly know their way around everything from dobros and pedal steels to the business end of Fender Telecasters.
Consequently, 'The Last Warrior' is a treat for sore ears. Some of it rocks with the the kind of last-gang-in-town bravado the album's title conjures. Songs like 'Small Town Girls' or the gutsy, low-ridin' title track are groovy Stones-meets-Georgia Satellites delights. 'Cry' is another tough-as-nails rocker with a Creedence circa 'Born On The Bayou' vibe and additional Hammond organ for maximum emotional impact, while the instant fix of 'Come On' is more than enough to satisfy that primordial urge to rock that's in us all if we're brutally honest.
Turning up amps up is only one of this album's facets, however. Tracks like 'Savage Delight' marry lonesome train pedal steel with a loose as a goose Crazy Horse burn. 'Halfway House' injects a little bar-room swing courtesy of some wicked, barrelhouse piano and 'Salt of the Earth'-style slide guitar and 'Blue' proves they are equally adept when it comes to sad'n'broken country ballads of the first water. Hell, just to show they've got all bases covered, 'Cast a Little Loving' even instils some pop-rock sensibility and could almost be a rootsier Crowded House. Not such a stretch of the imagination, believe me.
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Yes, there are a couple of times where their natural diversity threatens to turn them into Jacks of all Trades. The mellow 'Don't Leave Me' sails a little too close to Pub Rock territory for comfort, while the swirling, Paul Kossoff-ish lead guitar of 'Eternal Bliss' is played to perfection but sounds a bit too 'Classic Rock' for these ears to handle. There again, you've got to cut them a little slack. The accordion featuring on 'Eternal Bliss' hangs around to add a lovely, Gallic flavour to 'The Devil's Face' and inspires The Lost Souls to cook up a slice of flavoursome country-soul that should satisfy even the hardened connoisseur.
Besides, they pull it all together in fine style for the closing 'Thirteen Colours'. In what seems to becoming the norm these days, it's a down-home acoustic post-script with shakers and Humble Pie-style bongos making like the perfect accompaniment to the song's natural plaintive bent and it provides a nice, contemplative way of letting go. For now at least.
I've no idea whether there's much of a roots-rock scene in the Netherlands, but it would be a shame if geography left Charley Cruz & The Lost Sons swimming against the tide for the duration as they clearly have talent and skill on their side and will surely build on this if they can get over to the States in any meaningful way. If they can, audiences will discover that 'The Last Warrior' is a formidable beast.
(www.thelostsouls.nl)
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