(Southern Crossroads)
Perfect timing isn't Danny George Wilson's strong suit. His first band, Grand Drive, specialised in heartfelt Americana before it became fashionable. Danny and the Champions of the World's 2008 debut unveiled lap steel guitars and urban country music a couple of years before Mumford & Sons went supernova. Their third recruits Gaslight Anthem producer Ted Hutt to seemingly attempt to sound even more like Bruce Springsteen than the Gaslight Anthem do. Still, Hearts and Minds has some terrific songs (storming opener Ghosts in the Wire, lonely closer Walk With Me), even if they do seem unduly touched by the hand of the Boss. Wilson apes Springsteen's romantic language: rivers "on fire" and the rest. He is more convincing with personal reminisces about parties and the Beastie Boys; Too Tough to Cry sounds like a stripped-down, rawer Tom Petty. But the beautiful Colonel and the King, Wilson's musing on Elvis, shows how affecting he can be when he becomes his own man.
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2011/jul/21/danny-champions-world-hearts-arrows-review
No comments:
Post a Comment