Reviewed by Paul Loader

The Regal Line prove one very big point, first impressions can be VERY deceiving. When I first picked up this CD the I got the impression that the band were going to be out and out rockabilly (three dudes, rock & roll hairstyles, bedecked in black suits, white ties, standing in front of a souped-up hot rod). Having put the CD on, I was initially disappointed and thought that I was wrong. The over all feel of the album was that it had been recorded on somebody's home computer; the bass was hardly audible and heck, was that somebody playing the spoons in the back ground? As I said though, first impressions should never be relied on, and being a reviewer and wanting to be fair to the band I had to give the CD a proper hearing. You guessed it, The Regal Line have really gotten under my skin. Far from being simply rockabilly revivalists (like some of the other acts on the Golly Gee label), there are nods to Johnny Cash and even Jim Reeves in The Regal Line's intriguing sound. Quite suddenly this morning as I played the CD for about the umpteenth time in my car, I got it. This band has a real skiffle feel about them. (For our American cousins, skiffle was a British derivative of American jug band music, developed in the '50s.) The spoons are probably the sound of the double bass being slapped (which sounded more like a tea chest bass to me) and the stripped down sound that was made so popular by London bands like The Gutter Brothers in Covent Garden in the late 1980s is evident throughout the whole recording. There are 20 tracks on the CD so you'll never get bored. Subjects range from good old gospel themes of stamping on Satan's head; dumping an unfaithful wife; and the Johnny Cash-like 'Dear Mama' singing from the bars of a prison cell to his mother (great twist at the end). Some of the songs are under a minute long and so the whole thing trucks along like a day trip to the country (that was when country WAS gospel). I can think of no greater praise than this, I can't get the songs out of my head and have not stopped humming the tunes whilst I go about my day to day life. Right, where's my Gutter Brothers album?

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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