Thirteen Stars
‘Finest Ramshackle Jam’
(Rock People Music)
7.5/10
Having always had a soft spot for a shot of liquor swigging, dust kicking and saloon swinging Southern roll ‘n’ rock, so it gives me great pleasure to review Thirteen Stars latest release. ‘Finest Ramshackle Jam’ kicks off with the Kentucky kissed gallop of ‘I’m Ready’. The song has a distinct first of the night feel and as first cuts go it’s a fair indication of what lays ahead. Next up is the Tom Petty perfection of ‘Running So Long’ which has so many Petty comparisons that at times you feel you’re eerily in the same room as the great man. The track is a convertible driving under bold blue skies, a gas station with a vintage Pepsi vending machine on the corner wall while a man in dungarees fills checks the oil. ‘Sweet Lies’ goes all Spike from The Quireboys before a moonshine riff gets plonked on Skynyrd’s kitchen table as ‘Give It Good’ stumbles into the early morning light. Both ‘Sleeping’ and a skull swirling ‘Sorcery’ keep the cowboy boots tapping as the vocals land somewhere to between Alice Cooper, Keith Richards and Tom Waits, with a cold. ‘Be There In The Morning’ has a ‘Best Friends Girl’ riff and the clap-along ditty conjures up images of a barn dance, state fairs and leather waistcoats draped over faded denim. If there is one major criticism is that there are just too many tracks on ‘Finest Ramshackle Jam’, fifteen cuts is close to a double album and song similarity does creep in on occasions. The mid-album filler of ‘I’d Do Anything’ is followed by the nostalgic tub thump of ‘Mint Jelly’ which benefits from some well-placed brass and ivory on top of some superlative Southern twang.
‘Steel Horse’ trots down the middle of the Country -Rock bridleway while ‘Keep Calm And Carry On’ falls between the cracks of the mainstream rock and Radio 2. Then just as you think the album’s petering out a blistering intro to ‘Razors Edge’ drags you back in as does the Extreme funk-a-metal ‘Break It Down Slowly’. The final track ‘Only A Solider’ weighs in at whopping seven minutes and the ‘Blaze Of Glory-Esque’ acoustics give way to some stupendous civil war themed guitar & drum. The war/solider/widow lyrics at times flirt with the uber-obvious rhyming opportunities that the subject matter organically throws up but that said it’s still a worthy album-closing cut. ‘Finest Ramshackle Jam’ is the perfect beer & BBQ soundtrack for your own garden/balcony/kitchen lockdown festival.
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