Sunday, December 03, 2006

My Virgin Post

Recently I was in the process of engaging in my fortnightly CD binge, when I came across a release from former Albany singer-songwriter, James McCann - Where Was I Then. I was impressed by McCann and his Dirty Skirt Band’s raw intense country garage noise which provided support for the Drones at the Spanish Club earlier in the year so thought I’d give it a try. (BTW Gareth Liddiard from the Drones is a producer on this record and McCann apparently wrote the closing track on The Drones' Wait Long by the River.)

The Dirty Skirt Band are absent in this release by McCann – Where Was I Then, but McCann shows that he is a very capable even in their absence. The album kicks off with the energetic fuzzy country rock and roll of Knowing Smile. The distorted vocals, riff driven rock and roll of Insight is Gold suggest a harder edge garagey record is to follow. But McCann turns the amp down a notch and strips back the sound on Through the Night, reflects in the yearning, smoky alt-country of Don't Mean Much and broods and releases frustration on This Town's Full of Smoke. What's pleasing about these five tracks is that McCann consistently shows a willingness to explore his sound and moves quite comfortably between different genres (country, blues, rock). Unfortunately the last few tracks don't quite deliver on the promise offered by the first half of the record, but what we are left with still is a very solid debut record, and one that is worth is checking out.

[preview tracks from Where Was I Then at James' myspace]

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