Americana-UK review by David Cowling
Tangled up in the Bluegrass

This is the kind of music that makes even your kitchen utensils dance, so infectious is its blend of bluegrass, country, jazz and rock, you’ll do well to stop the dish running away with the spoon. Interspersing traditional songs, covers and some very decent originals like ‘Hard Times’ – which has a mandolin solo so delinquent that you’ll want to slap an ASBO on it – they create a party atmosphere and with the songs usually clocking in below three minutes, you don’t get chance to be bored. They take on jazz standards like ‘I’ve Found a New Baby’ and with the fiddle taking the brassy lead they confuse it into submission. There is a maelstrom of plucking, banging, sawing and shouting that give the songs an irresistible momentum, and they leap at you like an overfriendly Labrador. ‘Leaving of ‘Liverpool’ comes as something of a relief, the vocals are melancholic, up front and downright folky and with the guitar as the lead instrument it provides an interesting counterpoint to the frenetic activity that has gone before. An unabashedly old-fashioned record, traditional and proud and with enough energy and skill to convince any doubter.