The Bevvy Sisters
Album: Plan B
Label: Interrupto
Tracks: 11
Website: http://www.bevvysisters.co.uk

Whilst the Bevvy Sisters may not share any blood and I'm not qualified to talk about their drinking habits, this gaggle of Scottish Lasses, Heather MacLeod, Gina Rae, Cera Impala and one guy, David Donnelly do have a common heritage that includes a shared passion for both Americana and swing, imagine the Andrew Sisters with switchblades and when push comes to shove, this is an album where attitude really counts.

It would be surprising if you didn't recognise the names of the individual members of the band, as you will have encountered at least one of them performing in their own right or as part of another combo, most likely with Scottish roots.

As mentioned, there is a bloke in the Bevvy Sisters, he's the one facing away in the outer sleeve picture and the blurred figure in the inner sleeve, but it is tongue in cheek as Donnelly 's presence really does give the album something that sets it apart from similar harmony swing bands. (Along with Cera Impala, he also contributes some of the songs with the rest coming either from the tradition of the pen of Sandy Wright.)

That said it is the predominant three part harmonies that are the real stars on "Plan B" and credit to the girls for going straight to the usually more successful plan b without the almost obligatory stop at the notoriously less successful plan a.

As album's go, there is quite a lot of sentimentality across the album, but it's not the cod sentimentality of melancholia, this is very much more the pain that takes more than a few drinks to bring to the surface, whilst lacking the coherence of what ends up being delivered in song.

This is Americana and swing delivered with a rough edged Celtic pragmatism and the result is one that's well worth shouting about, bottle of scotch and drinking buddies not part of offer. :-)

Neil King