I don’t suppose that the casual listener would even care that old time rock ‘n’ roll seems to thrive better in Germany than anywhere else or that The Howlin’ Max Messer Show do it better than most with their self-titled album being filled with all the reverb and proto country influences that genre fans demand.
In amongst all that reverb though beats a heart of gold with a certain purity imbuing all these songs with a sense that those simpler times were indeed better times which, if you look around you today, might well be true. There’s plenty of muscular guitar too and, with a scratchy voice from the past out front, you also get the feeling that what was the sound of subversion is, in fact, still a sign of rebellion even if those who are likely to be fans of those ponytail times are now well past their teenage years.
This album came with a postcard that simply said “Play Loud”. Spin up “These Tears” or “I Know” and you will soon realise that those two words are all you need to know to get the best from this album.