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<\/a>\nKrossborder [Release date 19.08.13]<\/p>\n
Roadhouse have long impressed with their unique take on southern roots rock and Americana, but \u2018Gods & Highways & Old Guitars\u2019 raises the bar to another level.<\/p>\n
As ever, the 10 songs come with Gary Boner\u2019s noirish signature style, while the band has never sounded better, with Danny Gwylim\u2019s stellar guitar work at the heart of everything that is great about this album. The intuitive production facilitates a mellifluous sound, full of deep guitar tones and spine tingling harmonies.<\/p>\n
Founder member Gary Boner has often been called the David Lynch of the blues for his Gothic landscapes and dark imagery. And it\u2019s a point obviously not lost on him, as evidenced by the well chosen Marion Post Wolcott photos which adorn the CD booklet. Her photo\u2019s documented post depression America and they provide the perfect backdrop for Boner\u2019s troubled narratives which are predicated by his oft stated belief that:\u2019 misery gives you a voice\u2019.<\/p>\n
Martin Cook\u2019s front cover also captures the essence of an album title full of faded dreams and disappointment. But there\u2019s always the survivors creed, represented here by the old guitar in the boot of a beaten up dodge. The motor and cracked highway may represent the broken American dream, but there\u2019s always a guitar to give you hope.<\/p>\n
The symbolism seeps into tightly arranged songs, topped by a triumvirate of female vocalists. And it\u2019s their ability to seamlessly switch from sumptuous harmonies to front line vocals that gives the album unexpected light and shade and real diversity.<\/p>\n
Roger Hunt\u2019s crisp percussive work and Bill Hobley subtle bass pulses unerringly match the insistent rhythms, while Gary Boner and Danny Gwylim\u2019s twin guitar work constantly bubbles and percolates before finally exploding on the anthemic \u2018Sinner\u2019,<\/p>\n
The catchy harmonies, chiming guitars and repeated hook of \u2018Hell On Wheels\u2019 sweeps you along and levers you into an imagery strewn trip down a tarnished American highway that climaxes with the southern rock influenced \u2018Sinner\u2019.<\/p>\n
Roadhouse\u2019s cross generational line-up leans on the core band\u2019s 20 year experience and adds the freshness of the younger harmony singers. And if Boner\u2019s lyrics have previously tended towards doom, gloom and the downright gothic, then this album is a tad more reflective, as he lets the imagery and moods do the talking for him.<\/p>\n
\u2018Katrina\u2019 for example is his take on the hurricane devastation in New Orleans. It\u2019s a song that takes you to the kind of place you wouldn\u2019t normally visit: \u2018And the levee\u2019s running high, The lightning\u2019s split the sky, It\u2019s coming down again, As the city starts to weep\u2019.<\/p>\n
The arrangement cleverly unravels a sharp contrast between the dark imagery and an understated musical optimism, as gently nuanced volume swells, angelic voices and an ascending guitar line suggest that even in the face of desolation, there\u2019s always hope of redemption.<\/p>\n
This is a multi layered album full of rich imagery, intricate rhythms, soaring harmonies, delicate guitar textures, and lush melodies that finds its equilibrium somewhere between Americana and kick ass rock blues. \u2018Gods & Highways & Old Guitars\u2019 is an album of real substance that deserves to be heard at the highest table.<\/p>\n
\u2018Skinwalker\u2019 is an adventurous, 7.25 minutes of inspired originality. It\u2019s a two-part tale of native Indian folklore that concerns shape shifting and startling transformational abilities. The song is anchored by a Bo Diddley beat, with Gary as the first person narrator, flanked by excellent bv\u2019s and a throbbing electro-acoustic guitar pattern. Both Gary and Danny solo exquisitely either side of Roger\u2019s link-piece that leads the band back into the groove.<\/p>\n
\u2018Gods & Highways & Old Guitars\u2019 is worthy of its title track status. The chiming guitars and harmony vocals are reminiscent of the classic early Doobie Brothers and Mandy G. adds her best ever vocal before the guitars slip into Allman\u2019s Brothers mode on an FM rock classic.<\/p>\n
Everything hangs together as a coherent whole and flows like all the very best albums always do, taking in Americana, boogie, southern and country rock. There\u2019s also two thematically linked New Orleans songs that contrast a city in despair (\u2018Katrina\u2019), with the unison guitar driven, Storyville feel of \u2018The Big Easy\u2019. The latter is a re-recording featuring a sensuous performance by Sarah Harvey Smart.<\/p>\n
The narratives draw you in like a gripping novel. The clever call and response vocals on \u2018Hell On Wheels\u2019 and \u2018Can\u2019t Say No\u2019 bring extra intensity, while the drum led, powerhouse boogie of \u2018Slow Down\u2019 features a lead vocal from Suzie D. \u2018Blues Motel\u2019 is a sister track with Mandy G leading the band into early ZZ Top territory, as Danny swaps imperious rhythm guitar for an incisive solo.<\/p>\n
The magnificent up tempo country rocker \u2018Spirit Across The Water\u2019 is transformed into an ethereal, angelic piece by peerless girlie bv\u2019s. You\u2019d wager that both \u2018Spirit\u2019 and the closing \u2018Sinner\u2019 are the kind of songs The Outlaws would love to have written.<\/p>\n
\u2018Gods & Highways & Guitars\u2019 is a masterpiece and a realisation of Gary Boner\u2019s musical vision. His songs may concern the exhaustion of the human spirit, but the music is a polar opposite invitation to pull back the flat top, hit the accelerator and head for the nearest sea spray swept coastal highway. ****\u00bd<\/p>\n
Review by Pete Feenstra<\/p>\n
This entry was posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), Start Page (All Posts) and tagged Americana, Bill Hobley, Bo Diddley, Danny Gwylim, Gary Boner, Gods & Highways & Old Guitars, Mandy G, Marion Post Wolcott, Roadhouse, Roger Hunt, Sarah Harvey Smart, ZZ Top. Bookmark the permalink. <\/p>\n
Our star rating<\/p>\n
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\n***** Out of this world
\n **** Pretty damn fine
\n *** OK, approach with caution unless you are a fan of the band or genre
\n ** Instant bargain bin fodder
\n * Ugly, just ugly<\/p>\n
——————————————————————————–<\/p>\n
<\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
http:\/\/getreadytorock.me.uk\/blog\/2013\/07\/album-review-roadhouse-gods-highways-old-guitars\/ Album review: ROADHOUSE \u2013 Gods & Highways & Old Guitars On Get Ready to Rock http:\/\/getreadytorock.me.uk\/blog\/2013\/07\/album-review-roadhouse-gods-highways-old-guitars\/ Posted on July 27, 2013 by petefeenstra Krossborder [Release date 19.08.13] Roadhouse have long impressed with their unique take on southern roots rock and Americana, but \u2018Gods & Highways & Old Guitars\u2019 raises the bar to another level. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1270","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.roadhousegb.liveblues.info\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1270","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.roadhousegb.liveblues.info\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.roadhousegb.liveblues.info\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.roadhousegb.liveblues.info\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.roadhousegb.liveblues.info\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1270"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.roadhousegb.liveblues.info\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1270\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1272,"href":"https:\/\/www.roadhousegb.liveblues.info\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1270\/revisions\/1272"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.roadhousegb.liveblues.info\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1270"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.roadhousegb.liveblues.info\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1270"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.roadhousegb.liveblues.info\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1270"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}