Sorry For the Kissing

BB Records  www.barkerband.com

Found by your site operators when we went down to Putney to catch Swedish roots trio Baskery, The Barker Band were in their own way just as entertaining and mention of a forthcoming album prompted us to express interest. It has duly arrived and launch gigs are imminent, first impressions are that this crew are pressing all the right buttons, playing to their strengths and must have a great future.

For a start, the packaging of this release is first class, there are a series of graphic-novel Milo Manara-tinged drawings linked to the twelve individual tracks ; the sound is pretty crisply captured, with due emphasis given to the quality vocal skills of the group so take a bow the Barker brothers and Ms Nella Johnson possessor of a voice with clarity, warmth and subtle passion. The slightly Poguesy look of the male members  of the ensemble onstage belies their skilful interplay, this isn’t a ramshackle outfit though they are decidely not po-faced serious either.

The Barker Band sound straddles earnest morning mist folk, a kind of Euro bluegrass, MidWest US jukebox rock’n'roll and more besides. So – deep breath – we almost have a band that in time could pick up where the mighty Fairport Convention once reigned. I don’t say this lightly having witnessed early FC shows where at the end of the night Richard Thompson and cohorts might be cajoled by the knowing audience into launching into John Mayall’s ‘Stepping Out’, Paul Butterfield’s ‘East West’ or the Farinas’ insistent ‘Reno Nevada’. On the evidence of this release, TBB could be headed in that direction but for now it’s the songs that matter and the delivery here is never less than listenable and often quite exhilarating.

‘It’s Goodbye’ puts a grin on your face straight away, such a tuneful vocal and that banjo and tremelo’d guitar twinkling along ; a loping ‘I Don’t Wanna Remember’ is a softskank lament again beautifully sung, subtle harmonies et al. ‘Cut You Down’ is where their Creedence style jukebox sound comes to the fore. ‘Good Place To Run’ shows the Wright/Shreeve/Silverman team at their best on bass/drums/guitar working with the jaunty fiddle. A good Cajun mood here. The Fairport tinge is really evident on ‘Only Want To Run’ which is pure beauty and yet underplayed for maximum effect, a lesser singer than Johnson would have shrieked her way through this and this is why this is a great group.

The late night blues feel of ‘Cheating Heart’ matches Dusty Springfield’s greatest moments without the shrill production she always seemed to suffer.

As you’ll discover when you buy this album, by close of play the band are dabbling in electronica without losing their intimate sound. If this site exists for anything, it’s to help groups of this quality.

Pete Sargeant   www.fairhearing.co.uk