One of the many joys of reviewing albums is that you are guaranteed to be surprised by something every week. This week's surprise came from Inverness band the Galipaygos with their album "The Demise of Gary Lip-gloss". As is our editorial custom, we give albums a quick listen before they get despatched to their reviewer. The day after we listened to this one, the Bluesbunnies kept humming the same tunes. When we thought about it, they all came from this album.
Scotland has a fondness for the alt-country/Americana genre as is evidenced by the many bands ploughing that particular furrow these days. The Galipaygos more than deliver the goods in this category. In fact, they also manage to give us 14 songs of pure class. The more we listened to this album, the more we liked it. "Pickin' Fishes" is pure sing-along old style country. The Beach Boys like harmonies of "Good Luck, Bad Luck" mix perfectly with the quirky trumpet playing of Jamie Macgregor to produce a future pop classic. "Happiness Starts Now" is the Kinks go country. Ending on a song about the trials and tribulations of life in a band in "Don't Start a Band", this was one album that ended only too soon. We suppose that is the best way for things to be - always leave them wanting more. Andrew Still does most of the songwriting and we hope that he has plenty more ready to satisfy our future needs.
The question that the Bluesbunny is often asked is whether a band is merely the sum of the influences. Galipaygos draw on many influences - the Flying Burrito Brothers, The Jayhawks and most notably of Edinburgh's master popsters Dropkick. Like a fine wine, the proof is in the tasting when you can enjoy the complexity that goes into something so simple. The Galipaygos have simply produced a remarkably mature album of quality songs that deserves a wider audience than it will probably get. If you have any sort of musical taste then we recommend that you make the effort and track yourself down a copy now. Get in contact with the band via their Myspace page. In fact, the only way this album could be better was if you could get it on vinyl.