THE VAGABAND – TOWN & COUNTRY
2012 - Eggsong
3.5***
It’s always nice when you are made aware of a new band that has a high degree of originality, and if they happen to be British that is an added bonus! So it is with this tremendous eight piece band on their terrific debut album. If there is a fault with the album it could be that there is just too great a variety of instrumentation and yet, conversely, that is also in many ways the great strength of this excellent recording! The vocals are always tremendously expressive, warm and perfectly suited to this mish mash of styles that have
produced a quite stunning album that ranges from a strong country feel to a folksy jazzy pop style. The playing likewise is high quality as it would have to be with this blend of instruments. The songs are all, with just one exception, written by band members, more of which a little later and every one
of those songs has the feel of having been played live by this tremendous band until they fit like a second skin. That is the only way that the complexity and near perfection of the arrangements can be
explained.
To give some idea of what I mean it is necessary to list the names of the band members and their contributions. Jose McGill is involved in the writing of eleven of the twelve songs, with several being solo efforts and the remainder co writes with other band members. He is also lead vocalist and plays acoustic and electric guitars and banjo. Patrick Arbuthnot plays pedal steel and resonator slide guitars, Joe Wright on fiddle, mandolin and harmonies, Hugh Stanners plays flugel horn, trumpet and squeezebox and Dan Reynolds has one co write and handles drums and percussion. Then we have Tristan Roche on electric bass, double bass and harmonies, Ali Houiellebecq on sax, clarinet, flute, recorders, cor anglais and harmonies and finally, Greg Cook who has five co writes with McGill also plays piano, dulcitone, pump organ, glockenspiel and harmonies. That should give you some idea of what you are likely to hear on this quite breathtaking listening experience manufactured by this quirkily British band that fairly obviously follow their own muse that is in the main oriented towards, but not trapped by, country music! Despite the diverse instrumentation there is often a sparseness to the songs, even on occasions when there seems to be a variety of instruments used on a particular song. Again, this points to the likelihood that all of these songs have been road tested and a huge amount of thought put into the arrangements and ultimately, with very few exceptions, it all works incredibly well.
As with the playing and vocals the standard of songwriting is high and whilst not every song works perfectly the large majority certainly do. An Ocean is a really good country oriented song that seems to have echoes of ‘Goodbye Jumbo’ era World Party. It has a really catchy memorable hook and starts with chiming piano and steel guitar with nice bass and drum sound blended into the mix. Itchy Fingers has a slightly unusual use of steel guitar on a slow moody tale with acoustic guitars
accompaniment and with excellent harmonies and repetitive yet catchy drumming and is followed by The Ballad of El Molino, another really good, slow moody song, full of hooks and with nice banjo and gorgeous steel guitar. Towards the end of the song the chorus gets a little monotonous but never detracts from the excellence of the song. Send in the Cavalry has a really emotional feel on this gorgeous country song with lovely haunting steel guitar and harmonies whilst Sixteen Tons is given an unusual, yet haunting treatment, of this classic old song that is slow moody and includes brass. The Bad and the Ugly encompasses many of the diverse styles that this band seem to play when it kicks off with mariachi like horns to a rhumba beat! It is a really nice duet with Jose McGill linking with the lovely expressive vocals of Lauren Dove. The harmonies are as usual excellent as is the steel guitar, with the song at times veering off into a jazzy feel ensuring there is always something of interest going on. This is followed by Do Me Like You Did, with it’s steel guitar and brass blended with fiddle and chiming piano on an excellent mid tempo ballad that in other hands would be fully a country ballad, but this band are never content to just take the predictable path and long may they continue with this refreshing attitude!
I can imagine that witnessing this band playing live would be a memorable experience. It’s a real pleasure to say that the same applies to this excellent album.
http://thevagaband.co.uk/
3.5***
It’s always nice when you are made aware of a new band that has a high degree of originality, and if they happen to be British that is an added bonus! So it is with this tremendous eight piece band on their terrific debut album. If there is a fault with the album it could be that there is just too great a variety of instrumentation and yet, conversely, that is also in many ways the great strength of this excellent recording! The vocals are always tremendously expressive, warm and perfectly suited to this mish mash of styles that have
produced a quite stunning album that ranges from a strong country feel to a folksy jazzy pop style. The playing likewise is high quality as it would have to be with this blend of instruments. The songs are all, with just one exception, written by band members, more of which a little later and every one
of those songs has the feel of having been played live by this tremendous band until they fit like a second skin. That is the only way that the complexity and near perfection of the arrangements can be
explained.
To give some idea of what I mean it is necessary to list the names of the band members and their contributions. Jose McGill is involved in the writing of eleven of the twelve songs, with several being solo efforts and the remainder co writes with other band members. He is also lead vocalist and plays acoustic and electric guitars and banjo. Patrick Arbuthnot plays pedal steel and resonator slide guitars, Joe Wright on fiddle, mandolin and harmonies, Hugh Stanners plays flugel horn, trumpet and squeezebox and Dan Reynolds has one co write and handles drums and percussion. Then we have Tristan Roche on electric bass, double bass and harmonies, Ali Houiellebecq on sax, clarinet, flute, recorders, cor anglais and harmonies and finally, Greg Cook who has five co writes with McGill also plays piano, dulcitone, pump organ, glockenspiel and harmonies. That should give you some idea of what you are likely to hear on this quite breathtaking listening experience manufactured by this quirkily British band that fairly obviously follow their own muse that is in the main oriented towards, but not trapped by, country music! Despite the diverse instrumentation there is often a sparseness to the songs, even on occasions when there seems to be a variety of instruments used on a particular song. Again, this points to the likelihood that all of these songs have been road tested and a huge amount of thought put into the arrangements and ultimately, with very few exceptions, it all works incredibly well.
As with the playing and vocals the standard of songwriting is high and whilst not every song works perfectly the large majority certainly do. An Ocean is a really good country oriented song that seems to have echoes of ‘Goodbye Jumbo’ era World Party. It has a really catchy memorable hook and starts with chiming piano and steel guitar with nice bass and drum sound blended into the mix. Itchy Fingers has a slightly unusual use of steel guitar on a slow moody tale with acoustic guitars
accompaniment and with excellent harmonies and repetitive yet catchy drumming and is followed by The Ballad of El Molino, another really good, slow moody song, full of hooks and with nice banjo and gorgeous steel guitar. Towards the end of the song the chorus gets a little monotonous but never detracts from the excellence of the song. Send in the Cavalry has a really emotional feel on this gorgeous country song with lovely haunting steel guitar and harmonies whilst Sixteen Tons is given an unusual, yet haunting treatment, of this classic old song that is slow moody and includes brass. The Bad and the Ugly encompasses many of the diverse styles that this band seem to play when it kicks off with mariachi like horns to a rhumba beat! It is a really nice duet with Jose McGill linking with the lovely expressive vocals of Lauren Dove. The harmonies are as usual excellent as is the steel guitar, with the song at times veering off into a jazzy feel ensuring there is always something of interest going on. This is followed by Do Me Like You Did, with it’s steel guitar and brass blended with fiddle and chiming piano on an excellent mid tempo ballad that in other hands would be fully a country ballad, but this band are never content to just take the predictable path and long may they continue with this refreshing attitude!
I can imagine that witnessing this band playing live would be a memorable experience. It’s a real pleasure to say that the same applies to this excellent album.
http://thevagaband.co.uk/