Angel Air Records (label)
11 June 2015 (released)
07 July 2015
Listen to the album and you will know why the The Ugly Guys still rock like 25 years ago! Steeped in American roots music, that ole country twang still rings through mighty strong and all twelve tracks have that certain feel-good factor.
The band name Ugly Guys comes from a much-loved Kursaal Flyers song and the band formed back in 2003.
Opener ‘Rose Tattoo’ provides us with a good solid beat and a sing-along chorus which you Ugly Guys fans out there will find irresistible. ‘Plains of Mexico’ bears all the hallmarks of a modern-day Western set in the sizzling south – think Robert Rodriguez. Vic Collin’s Spanish guitar solo sets the mood outright and might make a certain John Williams proud.
Next them Guys are “riding on that painted desert way” and by doing so delight us with a laid-back country ditty before the mood goes all hillbilly ‘n’ bluegrass on ‘Uncle Billy’ with its upbeat banjo sounds.
‘Wind Of Fate’ deserves maximum airplay and with its poignant lyrics (As we travel down life’s highway the wind it blows from different ways sometimes hard against you sometimes all the way…) and general vibe it could well be a Johnny Cash song. The lyrics are nicely underpinned by Andy Farrell’s bass before the others come in to flesh it out.
Did you know that it’s getting hard to negotiate in the ‘Late Great Golden State’? No? Then listen to the song and appreciate an anthem for a time that might have just slipped by… but do we really have to let it? But don’t get too downhearted for the tune is surprisingly upbeat!
Get them asses on the dance floor and move them asses to a ‘Mean Ol’ Man’. Yeah, he’s real mean this ol’ man!
Time for a beer and start thinking ‘Where Did It Go Wrong’? A catchy chorus and an overall nice beat ensure that very little goes wrong here.
The Ugly Guys’ version of ‘White Line Fever’ is decidedly different to the Merle Haggard original. Here, the song is far more richly textured and works very well as an ensemble piece.
As for the second anthem – and the title song – it is an encouraging affair for all those oldtimers out there who refuse to grow old and still rock out on a regular basis. ‘Still Twenty-Five In Your Head’ – and who listening to this CD ain’t still?
MUSICIANS:
PAUL SHUTTLEWORTH, VIC COLLINS, STEVE OLIVER, BOB CLOUTER, ANDY FARRELL
