Back to first impressions being important. Taking a look at the back sleeve of this CD made me smile. Howlin’ Lord – Mark Legassick, Mark Furnevall and Thomas Elgie – look so splendidly disreputable that they could never be mistaken for rhinestone cowboys.
True, country music is what they do. Not modern day Nashville middle of the road rock and or even faux Americana however as Howlin’ Lord take their musical cues from all sorts of places. “Once Proud Town”, for example, flies the flag of the First National Band while “Wade Right In” salutes both Robbie Robertson and Bob Dylan and “You Again” could easily be a Joe Ely song.
The difference here – the band’s unique selling point, if you like – is the obvious affection they hold for the blue collar style of the stalwarts of the old days when country was country and, in consequence, no small amount of humour escapes the confines of the lyrics such as when drink fuelled decadence mixes with cigarette smoke and the drawling barfly charm of Beth Rowley in “From My Seat At The Bar”.
It’s hard to dislike an album like this. Just playing it is more than enough to bring on a smile and, as you stagger home from the pub, you’ll probably be singing a song or three from it. More beer and less line dancing – that’s the way to the Grand Ole Opry (the one in Glasgow, of course…)