The world has truly been turned on its head when a rock band from California moves to Dublin in order to progress their careers, but that’s what the four-piece Cowboy Robot are up to, busking their way around the capital and into our hearts and minds. Now comes an album to further their noble cause.
Kicking off with ‘Rosalie’, a dose of vintage ’60s R’n’B circa ‘It’s All Over Now’ by the Stones, and complete with appropriately Jaggeresque vocals, they rip through nine tasty tracks that snarl and smirk and win you over without ever resorting to superfluous bluster. The single ‘Was The Light Green’ is a more contemporary affair, marrying a California gleam with a Velvets menace and some catchy riffing. ‘It’s Time’ is in the fine pop-rock tradition of The Monkees, great guitars and vocals on a catchy number that wins you over from the off. The title track is a laid-back oddity, its almost jug-band eccentricity giving it an acoustic charm à la Ray Davies that sets it apart from its more electric companions. ‘Not At All’ moves closer to Red Hot Chili territory, all sneering vocals and gut-twisting guitars, but with added summer harmonies to go, and ‘Picture Place Black’ has a swamp blues feel underpinning the expressive vocals.
Cowboy Robot’s subtle use of programming gives their finished product a contemporary feel, but it never obscures the sense that they’re four musicians firmly embedded in the rock tradition and with much to offer in terms of originality and a timely sense of good old rock’n’roll fun. Let’s hope Dublin does it for them.