God-Fearing Atheists “Rustbelt Sun” (Independent 2007)

If REM had come from Glasgow…

I don’t know what it is, but there’s a certain sort of American-influenced music that Scottish bands seem to do so much better than their English equivalents, and the God-Fearing Atheists, albeit unsigned and having their album mixed in a studio improbably but perhaps appropriately named Middle of Nowhere, have tapped into that rich vein of heritage to produce an album that stands foursquare in the road that leads to the REM/Jayhawks neck of the musical metropolis. Opening track “St Jude’s Parade” is driven by acoustic guitar and Peter Lacey’s early-Michael Stipe vocal, and as the verse cascades into the titular chorus we could be back in the days of “Murmur”, if REM had come from Glasgow not Georgia, as indeed we could on a number of the following tracks. It’s followed by the rather lovely “Breakdown”, more acoustic guitars, lots of harmonies on the choruses and insanely catchy. Elsewhere “Bellgrave Hotel” has that Neil Young/Crazy Horse vibe but a little less dirty and the guitar lines of “Forty Days of Rain” are a joy, as in fact they are throughout the entire album. Main man and writer of all the songs Peter Lacey has the knack of referencing his heroes while producing something new, rather as the Redlands Palomino Company do, albeit in a different vein. On “Some Letters Write Themselves” at one point he howls “Don’t you get so sick of these blues” a question to which, after listening to “Rustbelt Sun”, there is only one possible answer. No.

Date review added:  Sunday, April 29, 2007
Reviewer:  Jeremy Searle
Reviewers Rating:
Related web link:  God-Fearing Atheists website