Land Of Hope And Crosby

COAL PORTERS: “Land Of Hope And Crosby” (Prima Records)

Not to be confused with Mother Redcaps residents Cold Porter, this bunch are not (cue collective sigh of relief) a tribute band to some ol’ legendary New York song-writer (though someone somewhere is probably plotting exactly that). No, sirree.

What we have here is the new album from Kentucky country rock dynamo, Sid Griffin, whose old band, The Long Ryders, saddle-blazed their way to eternal cultdom in the ’80s.

But now, he’s back and he’s proud.

Though recorded over “a lengthy period” in a variety of studios, Land of Hope and Crosby is actually entirely cohesive and seamless in its own way, the common thread being that all the songs adhere to the same rule of thumb: if you’ve got the tunes and you’ve got the words, then aesthetically speaking, you won’t go too far wrong (though, commercially, you probably won’t go too far, period).

Given the note-perfect Byrds intro on ‘Death Like A Valentine’ you’d be forgiven for thinking that the Crosby of the album title was of the Stills and Nash variety but a music industry source has reliably informed me (i.e. Sid Griffin onstage at his recent Whelan’s gig) that it actually refers to the golf-playing, White Christmas dreaming, ‘once-did-a-dodgy-duet-with-David Bowie’ member of the greater Crosby clan.

And it turns out that the other lucky winner of the competition to have your name immortalised in a Coal Porters LP title is one Bob Hope (not the undertaker from Sheffield you understand, but the guy whose every one-liner is followed with howls of spontaneous canned laughter) – and me about to salute the head Porter for naming his album after Hope Sandoval!

I can salute him, however, for writing such spectacularly brilliant songs as ‘She Loved Me’: “She should have been a haughty heiress or a queen/At Andy Warhol’s side in his limousine/Appearing on the silver screen/Or at some uptown New York scene.”

This is a classic, winsome love song, as in you win some, you lose some.

‘Everybody’s Fault But Mine’ has the kind of sharp lyrical edge that Gram Parsons is so famed for: “I’m a bottle away from fixing to say/ It was everybody’s fault but mine/ Until I was born I was doing fine.”

Griffin shoots straight from the hip and aims straight at the heart and on songs like ‘How Did We Get This Far?’ and ‘Windy City’ he hits the aortal arteries spot on.

Though formerly a Long Ryder he has never been a lone one and on this album he is aided and abetted by some of the oldest ‘slingers in town, including Greg Sowders, Grant Showbiz, Kate St. John (ex-Dream Academy) and (Billy Bragg fans take note) Dave Woodhead and Wiggy.

So, get on your horse and buy this album!

• Nicholas G Kelly