Seeing in the press release that the first rock’n’roll record this guy remembers hearing is Gary Lewis & The Playboys’ This Diamond Ring, and then the first one he actually bought was The Beatles IV, I figured there must be at least something to like about the album.
And there are quite a few things indeed. The overall impression is of a contemporary sounding folk rock record, clearly influenced by the classics of the genre, mostly delivered through a kind of a Dylan-ish croon.
After the opening title tune, which finds him somewhere between mid’60s garage and ‘70s pub rock, he gets straight to the point with the electrified folky Americana of Hey, Don’t Quit On Me, Babe.
By the time of the next three songs, Raven Haired Girl, When Push Comes To Shove and Don’t You Even Try, things get much more melodic, heading towards the Byrdsian perspective of it, which actually might be closer to McGuinn’s solo works, while the pair of The Last Lullabye and Vagabond takes it back to the punk-ish garage sound, though not in a particularly raw way.
After all, most of the above comes as no surprise really, thanks to the suggestive-enough, shiny sunburnst Rickenbacker in Satch’s hands on the cover.
[Self-released 2004]
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