They may be a bit of a folky band for the most part, but they can produce a mean indie riff when they so choose; see Rosetta Stone and the beginning of Johnny for evidence.

In fact, without changing their sound especially they seem to be able to inconspicuously slip from quirky folk to indie to melodic pop and back, all the while sounding very much like themselves.

I don’t what else I can add to this description.  If there’s a bum note on this record, and there is only one, I would say it was Julian of Norwich which is a sort of English cod-folk and just seems to miss the target.  Maybe it’s because it’s a pastiche of a genre I’m too familiar with to quite pass over the bits where it doesn’t quite click, which I might not notice at all if the style in question were less familiar.

Other than that though, I can’t find anything about this that I don’t like. It’s not heart-caressingly gorgeous exactly, so not something I am going to go gooey over, but for the most part this is just a great big stamp of approval for every single song.  And to make matters even better, I am going to see them at this year’s Pickathon Festival in Portland.

Bombadil – Trip Out West
Bombadil – Johnny

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Hmm, well not sure how far to go with this review, as seems to be the case a lot around here at the moment.  There’s a lot I could criticise if I were so inclined, but there are some truly excellent songs on this album as well, so I feel compelled to write about it even if I can’t recommend it unequivocally.

The good bits first: some of this is the sort of punchy, euphoric, horn-driven celebratory indie music that has me dancing around the house in my pants at four in the morning.

The bad bits: well it seems to draw together so many slightly chaotic elements that it is not unusual for them to not quite meet in the middle.  Some of the tracks on this album take the sleazy bass, screeching vocal, clattering piano and oddly sensible horns and make something slightly muddy.  It can, if I’m honest, be crap.

Partly I think this is due to not quite having control over their most volatile elements just yet.  The vocal can ruin things on occasion, but then it can be utterly glorious as well, depending on the song.  Mechanical Thoughts is a stodgy track, where the momentum of the song never quite breaks free of the instrumental morass into which it sinks.  Not in an awful way though, just in a not-quite-excellent sort of way.  History is the other end of the spectrum – a joyously boisterous pleasure.

When they really get it right though, this is just superb.  Loud, ballsy, brash and brilliant.  There’s plenty of The Builders & the Butchers and the Ice Cream Socialists in their slightly swampy mix of stomp, clatter and growl.  It’s a sleazy album, full of dirt and grime and with just a slightly unsavoury glint in its eye.  Then at times it slips down a gear into something a little more sprightly and playful

There are some great things going on on here, and it is never less than a pleasure to listen to, but I get the impression that if they can tighten things up a bit then their next one could really be something special.  It remains, for now, a crucial ‘if’.

Darla Farmer – History
Darla Farmer – Dirty Keys (I don’t really like the vocals on this one, but the song itself is terrific.)

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