Urban Horse Thieves “When The Rubber Meets The Road” (Town Records 2007)

Superior alt.country in a good rockin’ vein

The Urban Horse Thieves are a quintet of players out of Ithaca, New York and this is their sophomore offering. On offer is a straight down the line country rock record which could possibly have been arrived at by a committee – check the instruments (banjo, fiddle – lots of fiddle, pedal steel, upright bass, accordion), check the songs (“heartbreaks, highways and hangovers”), check the music (country old and new, picking and plucking and stomping), check the sleeve design (old cars/pick up trucks from the fifties). What’s not to like? Relentlessly uptempo (no shortage of energy these boys), keening vocals in the ‘just-short-of-upper-register’ way, plenty of harmonies, the odd squally guitar solo. A fly in the ointment? Ermmm…yes – that bloody album title. That has got to be the worst, most clichéd title of 2007. This is a pity because it will inevitably put many folk off, thinking as they will that this is some second rate Nashville truck driving thing when in fact there is more to it than that. If you like your Americana on the country-side then this will be right up your street, or highway. It would be best enjoyed on the jukebox of a dusty bar somewhere in Thebackofbeyond, Nebraska (or some such mythical ‘American’ town) after several quarts of the local brew. The standout track is “Weights and Measures” which does for the violin what Neil Young did for the guitar on, say, “Zuma” (i.e. makes what could possibly be a discordant noise a thing of beauty). This track could very well be a future classic of the genre.

The press release claims that the band have ‘drawn comparisons to…Gram Parsons, Steve Earle, Uncle Tupelo and Johnny Cash’. And if that’s your bag…jump in the jalopy, put the pedal to the metal, shoot up the town and lay your dollar down.

Or try iTunes.

Date review added:  Monday, November 26, 2007
Reviewer:  Paul Villers
Reviewers Rating:
Related web link:  www.urbanhorsethieves.com