White Stripes comparisons dogged this raucous blues duo when their first two albums arrived last year. This acoustic record, borne from a brutal tour schedule that scotched full-scale recording, should cause reassessment.
It’s steeped in the ‘70s, especially Led Zeppelin’s folk side and Peckinpah Westerns, converting road song clichés into cowboy laments. Casually ragged structures are draped with woozy cellos, making this more than a demo stopgap. The “proper” new electric album in the autumn will have to go some to beat it.
NICK HASTED
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