An unpromising start called "Long Ago" nearly put me off this album. It’s a lazy sort of song that reminds me of "Ghost Riders In The Sky" and black and white cowboy films from the 1950s. Luckily it’s more like the Johnny Cash version than the Gene Autry one. Even so, it's best to skip it until you've got the hang of what Auld Lang Syne are up to, because what they are up to is agreeably unusual and really quite special.
Timothy Dick's voice is easily the best part of that first track, and it dominates the album. It's a bit strong husky thing and as soon as track two ("Rusty Prayer") gets going we've got some kind of Tom Waits Alt-Country tune. It’s just damn good. The slightly out of control drummer (Jonathan Miller) is suddenly more like Jim White playing for M. Ward, than that bloke in the pub playing Phoenix Nights for pints of beer. I like it a lot.
When the whole band crash in with accordion, harmonica and deeply mournful guitars, heartbreak time arrives for a big finish. But it all goes quiet again and makes a new build-up. Suddenly I really want to listen to this band.
"Why We Cry" has Miller singing (one of the band's four voices). He has a lighter tenor voice with a ghostly tremelo that comes and goes. But it's a voice whose sounds demand attention, to the tune and to the lyric. The loose band feel lets the song ring and the harmony hover in the air. There's no rush. If it was more laid back it would be horizontal.
Bass player Tim Gallogy gets a two songs - "Greasy Horse" and Red Feather" and I'm thinking along the lines of Mark Linkous in acoustic splendour. It's the grand tunes that do the trick, tunes that are carried through into guitar parts and nurturing bass lines. That slide guitar is a killer, isn’t it? And the French horn on that song is a fine touch.
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The songs are long, but they need the space and it definitley isn’t music for people in a great hurry. Final track "Autumn's Epitaph" is a comfortable 11 minutes 27 with some extended guitar playing and a warm ambience throughout.
What this album has is real character, strong character that isn't going to be told how to do things. And, my oh my my just listen to "My First Soul". A teasingly good tune, tantalising lyrics and a holy noise when the band lifts away from the super-quietness of the opening. It even has a choir of angels towards the end. Classic stuff, with Jonathan Miller making great sounds in the huge bass drum department. If this lonely song doesn't catch up your misery and lift you into something like euphoria, then salvation is going to be a long time coming.
www.auldlangsynetheband.com
www.viperbiterecords.com
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