Thursday 14 January 2010

The Headlocks – Cuckoo Bird

Not since the heady days of The Dictators has a group caught my ear simply because of a wrestling connotation or two. Admittedly, it’s all in the name for The Headlocks, who arrive on my desk without a sparkly leotard between them. Musically, which is pretty much the point of this exercise, they’re part of the whole US jam band thing, which doesn’t mean too much on this side of the pond, though when you strip back the influences of these combos, most of them, from the Dead via Phish to these country-fried New Yorkers, there’s not a whole lot to be scared about. Think, American folk-roots, think country rock, think blues, think The Band, Tom Petty, The Jayhawks, Dylan, etc. In other words plenty of things us Brits have been lapping up for decades. The Headlocks might not be up there in that company, but they’ve no shortage of Americana groove and the songs to back them up. My recommendations, “Driving In The Dark” and “The Round Up” jangle along at a agreeable pace, the latter with a Lou Reed / Velvets inflection. “Amen Good Charles” is good ol’ time washboard folk, dragged laughing into the 21st century, where it sounds wholly at ease. (Self-Released)

Andrew

www.myspace.com/headlocksmusic

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