That the thing I miss about the lack of record shops these days. Way back when, you wanted get in out of the rain you could find a record shop for a browse through the racks for a wee half hour and uncover a gem or two that you had never heard before. There are very few record shops left in Glasgow but it was raining (how unusual!) and we found Monorail.
Old habits die hard and this proved to be the case today. Rummaging through the racks, the sleeve for this single by the Dexateens lept out at us. A rusty pickup truck on a back road and, yes, a chicken is indeed crossing that road. I'll take it! The sleeze suggest some old style Southern boogie and that is what you get here. We are talking a metaphorical resurrection of the Allman Brothers. "Madalene" is a one riff song but when it is the right riff then you can't complain. Rock solid drumming and rasping vocals are the icing on the cake here and when the song is finished you are ready from another cold one and some more music too. Flipping the single over gets the "Heart of Dixie" fighting its way to freedom from the confines of the groove. Altogether rockier (in the AC/DC sense), this is hard driving rock music done right. Time for yet another beer.
Have you ever noticed that bands in the USA seem to come from interesting like, as the Dexateens do, Tuscaloosa, Alabama? It is just so much more exciting than, say, Airdrie, North Lanarkshire. Philosophical ramblings aside, these are two cracking rock tracks and as they say, best enjoyed loud.