Rocky And The Natives
Album: Let's Hear It For The Old Guys
Label: Yard Dog
Tracks: 11
Website: http://www.lets-hear-it-for-the-old-guys.com

Let's Hear It For The Old Guys, is the debut album from Rocky & The Natives, a combo of session musicians, none of whom are called Rocky, whose collective CVs read like a musical whose who and covers fifty years or more for some of the artists playing.

To be honest, I was a little trepidous sticking this in the cd player for two reasons, one was that CV, lots of appearances next to some big names on both stage and recordings, but none of the players on the album names in their own right, the second is that my experience with this sort of album has been decidedly mixed. A number of these albums expose why the artists became session players, good technique, no life.

On the bright side only three of the eleven cuts on the album were covers, the majority of the songs being penned from within the band, primarily from lead guitarist Chris Godden and vocalist, Malcolm Barnard with the two of them taking the album off in a blues meets country rock direction and also one that has a very live feel, which does set it apart from a number of its contemporaries.

You can tell the band is having real fun putting this together, they appear to be comfortable around each other, this is not an album where egos get to overpower the record, though pretty much all the players get an opportunity to shine across the eleven tracks.

Being perfectly honest, there is a touch of it being a vanity project in the way the album comes across, but it is by no means the dominant sound. This is a take on country and blues rock from guys that have seen the genres from a number of angles and who bring a different perspective to most and that brings some nice touches, but at the end of the day, I'm not sure that's enough and yet I can see why they might have a wider appeal, particularly if you were to catch them live.

Neil King