STACK #166 Aug 2018

MUSIC REVIEWS

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Lera Lynn Plays Well With Others In Lera Lynn’s relatively short career she’s created music for (and appeared in) HBO’s True Detective , written songs with T Bone Burnett and Roseanne Cash, and released her own indie rock to Americana sounds. For her aptly-named fourth release, not only did she decide to produce a duets album, she makes it truly unique, inviting her co-singers to write the songs with her, including partners like Andrew Combs, Nicole Atkins, Rodney Crowell, JD McPherson and John Paul White (Civil Wars). Recorded in White’s Studio with Ben Tanner (Alabama Shakes) and Lynn co-producing, it's all live acoustic instrumentation, stunning voices and the saddest of songs. It confirms Lynn indeed plays well with others. (Cooking Vinyl) Denise Hylands Catherine Britt & the Cold Cold Hearts Catherine Britt & the Cold Cold Hearts Catherine Britt was 14 when she released her first EP. Nearly two decades later and so much life inbetween, she releases her seventh studio album. Raised on her father’s fine taste in country music, Britt has continued to stay true to her love and authenticity of the genre. Keeping it down home, she got herself a band – The Cold Cold Hearts – and recorded in her own Beverley Hillbilly Studios with good friend Bill Chambers guesting on all tracks. The past few years have seen Britt survive her battle with breast cancer, get married, and become a mother. It’s all here, it’s deeply personal, and shared in all its undeniable honesty. (Lost Highway/Universal) Denise Hylands

The Screaming Jets Gotcha Covered The Screaming Jets are blokey and irreverent and The Last Great Pub Rock Band. So it makes sense that for their eighth studio album they are covering Oz rock classics, from 1965 (The Easybeats’ Wedding Ring ) to 1995 (You Am I’s Purple Sneakers ), as selected by Triple M listeners. The closing cut sees Jets guitarist Scotty Kingman reunited with Horsehead’s Cameron McKenzie, as well as his brother Brett Kingman. They are part of the 14-minute “guitarmageddon” version of Stevie Wright’s Guitar Band , which sees the Jets joined by 16 Aussie guitar heroes. A fitting finale to an album that’s a love letter to Oz rock. (Dinner For Wolves) Jeff Jenkins

Neil & Liam Finn Lightsleeper “Growing up and knowing what the dangers are doesn’t mean your lose your spark,” Neil Finn sings on this new album. “You’ll always be a child at heart.” Music has always been a family affair for Finn, starting with the day he joined big brother Tim’s band, Split Enz, in 1977. Neil later invited Tim to join Crowded House, and they also

made two Finn Brothers albums. In addition, Neil created a record with his wife Sharon: 2011’s Pajama Club . Now comes this father-and-son collaboration. As the title suggests, Lightsleeper is a late-night record – there’s a dark playfulness to its tracks, but while it's warm and inviting for the most part, it’s also occasionally unsettling. The duo eschew the search for the perfect pop song; the pace is languid and the instrumentation is unpredictable, with perhaps Liam (ex-Betchadupa, an underrated pop act) bringing the quirk. Call it a meandering masterpiece. Not all of it works – “You have to make your own mistakes,” Liam sings in Hiding Place – but it shows that more than four decades into his sparkling career, Neil Finn can still surprise: by joining Fleetwood Mac, and releasing records like this. As father and son confide in the closing cut Hold Her Close : “Leave a gap in your door to let a little light in.” (Inertia) Jeff Jenkins

Steve Boyd's Rum Reverie Hoodoo Hipshake I can't recall the last time I heard a debut album as fully realised as this one. Co-bandleaders/ songwriters Steve Boyd (guitar/ vocals) and Paul Fiddes (drums) have assembled an all-star band of Melbourne musicians who contribute horns, Hammond B3, electric and pedal steel guitars, double bass, and backing vocals to a bunch of songs whose influences are as varied as the ingredients in a gumbo. Funk, rock, zydeco, jazz, gospel, blues and soul are all represented on these infectious songs that could have been born in New Orleans. One of many highlights is a soulful homage to the much admired Melbourne guitarist Spencer P. Jones. (Planet) Billy Pinnell

Harvey Mandel Live At Broadway Studios

Diesel 30: The Greatest Hits “Don’t dig it up,” Diesel advised on his 1999 single, but there are gems to be unearthed on this generous archaeological dig, comprising 30 songs to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the first Johnny Diesel and The Injectors single, Don’t Need Love . This collection features 14 Top 40 hits, including Tip Of My Tongue , Come To Me and Soul Revival ; the classic that should have been a smash hit, 15 Feet of Snow ; plus a crowd-pleasing new song, Give Me Saturday Night . The album tells the tale of an artist who rose above the marketing and the hype to create a compelling catalogue. Dig it. (Bloodlines) Jeff Jenkins

Harvey Mandel is one of the most distinctive and innovative guitarists of the past 50 years. His late '60s solo albums and recordings with Charlie Musselwhite, Canned Heat, John Mayall and The Rolling Stones revealed a blues-based rock guitarist with jazz influences whose mastery of fuzz-toned, feedback- edged, melodic solos pushed the boundaries of electric rock guitar playing. Mandel was also one of the first guitarists to use two-handed Halen. His latest release – recorded live in 2001 before an enthusiastic audience at Broadway Studios in San Francisco with a like-minded band of bass, drums and keyboards – is an exhilarating excursion into fretboard tapping well before Stanley Jordan and Eddie Van

innovative instrumental rock. (Planet/MGM) Billy Pinnell

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AUGUST 2018

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