Beautiful Loser Society "The Long Slow Decline” (Independent, 2009)

The self-fulfilling prophets

The problem with trying to be smart and self-deprecating with titles is that it might just bite you in the ass. I certainly can’t accuse them of not having a sense of humour (a good one is another matter), their first record was called ‘Aim Low’ and it was praised by many (including Americana-UK) for it’s gritty, bruised country canter. They follow this up with ‘The Long Slow Decline’ and my only argument is that if the first record was half decent then this is a very quick descent.

There are plenty of examples of songs, ‘Hot Rod Daddy’, ‘Suicide Trucker’, ‘One Good Dog’ and others that are hot bobsleighs shooting down a butter mountain.

It is nothing more than George Jones style country without anything really added except the type of humour that mysteriously has made Will Ferrell a very rich man. There are a couple of glaring exceptions, ‘Sweet Virginia’ straps on the electric guitar, sets it to Southern Rock and manages to skirt around most of the clichés showing some regal restraint, it shows what a fine band they can be. Even better and seeming even more out of place is ‘Coal Miner’s Lament’ which is as gritty as a miner’s eye, full of ringing banjo, mournful fiddle and flittering violin, it suggests that there is real talent here, it’s a pity most of it goes to waste.

Date review added:  Thursday, February 04, 2010
Reviewer:  David Cowling
Reviewers Rating:
Related web link:  So why don't you kill me