Thirst For Romance

Cherry Ghost’s mainman Simon Aldred is clearly in love with all things Americana. His band’s debut album is laden with robust guitar-led balladry, his knotted larynx a nod to the deadpan charm of Lambchop’s Kurt Wagner, his quotidian observations reminiscent of the porch song embrace of Wilco – from whom, incidentally, he pilfered his name. That Aldred resides in rainy Bolton hasn’t lessened his fascination with Marlboro Country, but it’s turned him into something of a musical curio – a half way house between the swaggering, Northern rock 'n' roll exhibitionist and a plaintive, roaming cowboy.
It makes for an intriguing combination. The dusty rattle and hum of the opening title-track offers a rugged beginning, with piano and acoustic guitar entwined in rambling cadence. After the jaunty country of ‘4AM’, there’s a change of tack with the magisterial sweep of ‘People Help The People’, which echoes the best elements of Coldplay’s soaring pomp. The refrain of “If you’re homesick, give me you’re hand and I’ll hold it” is both beautifully succinct and one to sing along to.
The meaty melodies continue atop the funereal marching drums of ‘Roses’, and glistening strings of ‘False Alarm’, which has strains of a rococco Lambchop. Aldred reconvenes his Route 66 road trip with a juiced-up slice of Big Star-like power pop on ‘Alfred The Great’, while the epic ‘Mary On The Mend’ crams more than enough gorgeous languor into its eight minutes. On the evidence of this debut, a talent is born, if not quite in the USA.