(Stomp Records 2019)
Limbo
Fast Machine
Truth
Jonesin'
YEG
The Only One
Ain't Got Time
Bloodied But Unbroken - Live My Life For Rock'n'Roll
Bring It Home Tonight
Walk Of Life
The Raygun Cowboys are a band that have been around for 19 years yet their recorded output is relatively sparse. It wasn't until 2006 that the boys released their debut album Underground Boogie. Back then they had the traditional rockabilly three-piece line up but by the time the self-titled 2008 release saw the light of day the boys had beefed up their sound with the addition of a horn section. Now then, I do not like horn sections. It's nothing to do with being closed-minded. I just know what I like and don't like. It generally turns a raw rockin' sound into a more saccharin rock'n'roll one. Some exclusions are, of course, King Kurt, Ghoultown and The Highliners. Therefore, I pretty much ignored The Raygun Cowboys without actually ever listening to em. What a gobshite I was. But then in 2017 the lads included a cover of the SNFU song Painful Reminder on their The Cowboy Code album. The video showed up on social media, I clicked on it, and it became an instant all-time favourite of mine. I'm very much a vocals kinda guy. They can either make a band shite, mediocre or in a league of their own. Well when the first few lines of the song emanated from my headphones I immediately sat up and took notice. Jön Christopherson is a vocalist par excellence. Bordering on operatic, he's a big man with a big voice ranging from baritone to tenor. So on the strength of that one song I went and sourced the entire Raygun Cowboys back catalogue and bought the lot. Two years after my epiphany the boys are back with their new album Bloodied But Unbroken. No bollixing around this time. An order was placed straight away. No waiting around for Postman Pat either or release dates as being the special boy that I am, Mike from Stomp Records sent me on the files for this very review. The Raygun Cowboys are the kind of outfit that leave you thinking, well they can't surpass their last record. That's the kind of quality they exude on each release. Yet, on each release, they do just that and this one is no exception. The slap bass and drums rockabilly backbeat is souped-up with a cowpunk guitar and rock'n'roll brass section. Sitting on top of that is Jön Christopherson's vocals which are equal parts velvet and aggression. Half way through listening to this album I thought to myself "I wonder what he'd sound like on a ballad with just an acoustic guitar?"...well lo and behold for the first couple of minutes on Bring It Home Tonight that's exactly what I got. So far this album had everything. But then, the final song awaited. I absolutely can not stand Dire Straits. If they just shortened their name to Dire it would be more apt. Their quasi-rock'n'roll song Walk Of Life is tedious. So, was this last song a cover of that song? Yes. Yes it was. But fuck me the boys breathe new life into it. Maybe it's Knopfler's vocals I find tedious about this song. Christopherson's vocals are the...anti-tedious! I still won't listen to it on repeat though. Sorry lads. You can thank Mark Knopfler for that. I will listen to the other 9 on repeat though until I figure out which is the standout track. As it stands that's a tough task. The album is due for release on October 25th in a whole variety of sexy packages from the boys' bandcamp page. They have a Canadian tour from late October to December to coincide with the release. Linkorama for all the info below.
