- Album: 'Back in the Saddle Again'
- Label: '(self)'
- Genre: 'Alt/Country'
- Release Date: 'Dec 09'
Our Rating:
www.nocomebacks.co.uk
I fully expected to hate this: two ageing Brits in cowboy hats, one ageing Texan whose star has long faded, a bunch of singing cowboy songs and a drum machine. What can go right?
I mean, I've been to one of those country shows where people turn up in their rhinestone jackets and cowboy hats and I vowed to run a mile if I ever felt myself slipping in that direction. I like my cheese on toast, not on the stage. So I guess this is one of those things that you know instantly is a guilty pleasure because I confess I listen to this with as much a grin as a grimace. After all, we all know all these songs and when they're performed with as much gusto and enthusiasm as they are here then you can't help but bend before the wind they make. Some of these songs are real favourites of mine: Tumbling Tumbleweeds (which Mike Nesmith sold me when I was but a lad), Wayward Wind (good enough for Neil Yong, good enough for me), Don't Fence Me In and Ghost Riders in the Sky are all songs I'd give a listen to anytime and they're all delivered here with a great dollop of cheesy sincerity. Tina Dean helps out on the singing which sweetens the aroma of all these ageing cowboys but really all I can say is that next time you've got some long list of household chores, chuck this on the stereo, turn it up loud and lose yourself in some ludicrously Technicolor fantasy world.
John Davy
