The Mighty Bosscats

Before I start, I have to admit that up until recently I had not been aware of Mr. Townend & The Mighty BossCats, however better late than never as they say! On first play of the album you could be forgiven for thinking this delta style Southern Blues is straight out of Mississippi, and not from our own fair shores. Eyes closed and headphones cranked, you could be in a small and intimate Deep South Blues club. Never is this more evident than on the opening track, 'The Long Years', which is reminiscent of the T Bone Burnett music from the True Detective tv series. Building slowly from a smoky Blues guitar and harmonica opening, with shuffling drums and bass added to the mix halfway through and ending with some great guitar work, it's the story of a seven year stretch in jail. With its very laid back feel, this sets the scene perfectly for the remaining ten songs. Track two, the title song 'Goldfever', follows in much the same vein and tells the story of chasing happiness and the fruitlessness in panning for gold, while the only people getting rich are the ones selling the pans. 'Do You Miss Me' is up next, slightly more upbeat than the opening two tracks and built on a steady train like rhythm covering all the standard Blues themes of heartache and lost love. Nice guitar work, but maybe the lyrics are a bit too repetitive making the song feel slightly over long. Track four 'Deliverance Day', tells the story of a woman trying to gain the courage to leave an abusive relationship. The lyrics are powerful and sound very personal, and once again it has a great guitar sound, but with no chorus the song tends to last slightly too long and loses a bit of focus.



From here it's on to 'Love Will Always Find A Way'. A very laid back song, which would sound perfectly at home on Radio 2 on a lazy Sunday afternoon.Sounding a lot like Chris Rea, it's a tale of a couple who have to run away to be together, and is very much a song my Mum would say was a lovely little tune. Next up is my favourite track on the album, 'The Rain Will Come And Wash It All Away' is a beautiful song which starts with Townend's great vocals and a simple acoustic guitar before gospel backing singers gently join in, giving the song extra richness & depth. A great song. A shame then that my favourite song is followed by one which feels like the only "filler" track on the album. 'Help From The Lord Above' feels a bit laboured and meandering which is not helped by the repetitive lyrics, this would be the song to be skipped over on repeated plays of this CD.



Track eight, 'Sweet Loretta' is a feel good old fashioned early Rock 'n' Roll/Swing tune sounding like something from the '50's, it's a good Pop tune and definitely is the only song on here which could possibly be danced to (if that's your thing). The very personal sounding 'Bately Boy' follows, a song about looking back on a childhood and the hardship that comes with it. Like the rest of the album, it has a great guitar sound, but the song feels rather word heavy and repetitive and as such it's a song that tends to outlive it's welcome a little. The heaviest song on the album is 'Wrong Road', starting with an acoustic guitar and vocals, before the electrics and drums kick in, followed by backing vocals and harmonica to beef up the sound.A great song, which needs to be played at neighbour bothering volume! Rather fittingly, the album closes with 'Closure', which does exactly what it says on the tin.A simple song that builds nicely and brings us back to where we began, the smoky Blues clubs of the Deep South or the UK at least. To sum up, a very enjoyable album from an artist that I was unfamiliar with, but who apparently has released nine CD's over the past five years so there is much to catch up on and discover.



Phil C