Albums

Album Review: The Back Porch Band

Album: More Beer Than Gear
Label: Unsigned

According to the website you need to look out for this lot “if foot-stomping, up-tempo blues, skiffle and even rock and roll is your bag”. Well that’s pretty much how I’d call it. Featuring blues harp, fast guitars, drums and a singer who can’t quite leave that English accent behind they conjure up images of early Rolling Stones.

The album was recorded in a studio, the band all in a circle playing together and in one take. This way they manage to re-create a live feel which, no doubt, is the reason why they have been so successful on the pub circuit. The guitars of Jonny Miller are dominant with Steve Graham’s blues harp chiming in throughout each number. The band even has a washboard-player with the unfortunate title of Washboard Dik - ouch.

The songs are a mixture of original, covers and live material with some working better than others. “Poison Your Tea” is a fantastically British concept and delivers with a matching vocal. The Womack’s “It’s All Over Now” allows Dik a chance to sing and he piles it on with a contrasting redneck twang as the instruments pick up with an irresistible rhythm. There’s the odd moment which doesn’t quite fit like the slower pace of “Goodbye Blues” which at eight minutes is overly long. However, the band’s obvious humour allows them the odd slip as “Cult Figure” follows with its self-ridiculing theme and rocking riffs.

The final three tracks are live and really allow a feel of what this band is all about – putting smiles on faces whilst sharing in the fun themselves. The album certainly isn’t going to rattle any of big record company cages but it sure is a blast. Lead singer, Mike Rushmore sums it all up on the hidden track, “’kin marvellous”.

For fans of: Hayseed Dixie, Bob Dylan, Lonnie Donegan
Band link = The Back Porch Band

This review originally appeared in Music-Zine.

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