Reviews roundup – Runrig vs. Tim Williams vs. Ozone Mama vs. Tom Clay

Reviews roundup – Runrig vs. Tim Williams vs. Ozone Mama vs. Tom Clay

RUNRIG
The Story
Ridge Records

It’s not the fault of Runrig that their music was hijacked by nationalists back in the day.  Especially, when it turned out there was a surfeit of Blairites as well as nationalists, lurking in the pack.  But it cast a pall for folks like me, which was a shame, because they’ve always been a really good band.

But here they are, knocking it on the head after a forty-year career, and it’s probably one of their best records.  I always preferred the post Munro music, and Bruce Guthro (nee Guthrie) is in fine voice here.  The opening, title track, is an absolute stoatir, and one of their finest.

Elsewhere, it’s the same mixture of folk rock and guitar led Celtic rock that they’ve always played, but with a wee edge to it, that makes for very enjoyable listening.  They’ve managed to get the right amount of pathos into songs like ‘Rise and Fall’, and there are the requisite weepies which every true Scotchman yearns for.

It’s also out as a muckle box set if you fancy a flag, pen, notebook, autographs etc.

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TIM WILLIAMS
So Low
Lowden Proud

Tim Williams spends his days fronting the Electro Fires but on this solo album, he’s stripped the blues back as far as you can, with just him and a Gretsch Alligator Resonator guitar.  And if you like your blues acoustic and traditional, then you should not miss this release.

In between some excellent original tunes, he turns his hand to songs by Mose Allison, Big Bill Broonzy and Blind Boy Fuller, amongst others, and it says a lot for his own tunes, that you wouldn’t be able to tell the old from the new.

From the opening Mose Allison number, ‘If You Live’, right through to the end, he doesn’t put a foot (or a finger) wrong, with his own Lightnin’ Hopkins homage, the best of the originals.  It’s an absolute peach of a CD, and one that trad blues fans should ignore at their peril.

OZONE MAMA
Sonic Glory
independent

Fancy some scuzzy psych rock from Hungary?  Of course you do.  And here come Ozone Mama in all their sonic glory to satisfy your needs.

Of course, if I tell you they’ve supported Monster Magnet, The Darkness and Airbourne, then you’ll have a pretty good idea where they’re coming from.  Add in an opening salvo of ‘Good Times Roll’ and ‘Backdoor Man’, and they’ve got the vibe and the attitude sorted.

They shoot their load early on, and things fade slightly towards the end, but if you fancy “Sonic Temple” meets “Powertrip” with some eighties rock guitars, then Ozone Mama are the band for you.  A good one.

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TOM CLAY
Sanctuary
independent

Apparently, Flight Brigade have been hailed as ‘astonishing’ by BBC Radio 2.  And Tom Clay is their bass player.  Nope, me neither.  Turns out that at one point, he was in the American colonies trying to make it as an actor, leading to a breakout role as a hand double for Robert Carlyle in the film, “28 Weeks Later”.

He’s been round the blocks as a solo performer before, but  then took a lengthy hiatus from music for personal reasons.  But now he’s back with a new single, and it’s rather enjoyable.

It’s that singer / songwriter, Laurel Canyon, quasi-folk thing that so many have a bash at, but at least Mr Clay knows how to write a tune.  Hopefully he’ll have a few more up his sleeve come album time, but you can check him out at http://www.tomclay.co.uk/