Spiritual Boy

Maniac Records

The subtitle of this set is “An Appreciation Of Ronnie Lane” and Small Faces/Faces star bassist and singer. By turns upbeat and winsome, some familiar songs are performed here – even ‘Itchycoo Park’, ‘Kushty Rye’ and ‘Debris’. McLagan’s stylish and warm keyboard sound range has lost none of its impact from my days down the front at Faces’ gigs (always fun and musically muscular) BUT what a fine singer he is these days, too. Most of the arrangements are guitar/bass/drum/keys based and non-one overplays. The songs shine through, boosted by the expert basslines of none other Mark Andes – yes the Spirit/Heart/Firefall man. Our bandleader is of course an expert at blending his keys with every style of guitar playing guitarist Scrappy’s slide style is very different from Faces’ axeman Ronnie Wood. John Bush adds neat percussion elements here and there. Electric folkrock would petty much sum it up.

Another plus is the fabulous sound quality, especially noticeable on opener ‘Spiritual Babe’ and rocking closer ‘Hello Old Friend’. But the punchiest track is ‘You’re So Rude’ and you could picture Mr Lane smiling from above. A good tribute by the right crew.

Pete Sargeant