The Ree-Vahs!
Album: Geordieland
Label: Self Released
Tracks: 10
Website: http://www.theree-vahs.co.uk

The Ree-Vah's are a loose music collective headed up by Andy Loan and who draw on a folk style that has it's roots in the pubs and clubs of Stanley and Consett, two hard working towns devistated by the destruction on manufacturing and more or less left to rot.

There are parts of "Geordieland" that I'm not sure I totally get, as although I have an affiliaton to the region I don't come from that neck of the woods and that may mean that I'm not getting some of the subulty behind the title. I'm not sure if it's a celebration of the North East, it's life an attitude embodied by Geordie culture, or a resentment that Newcastle has stolen great chunks of the regional identity and put it to it's own use, just like it did with vast amounts of the regional development funds and actually maybe it's both.

There is no denying that this is music of the region, but ultimately that doesn't matter a jot, I'll happily listen to bluegrass and cajun, despite having even less of an association with either region. The litmus test is are the songs well written and did I enjoy the album and the answer to both is yes.

This is an album that tells stories, stories that, like the roots of the album, draw on the region, but aren't wholly dependent on it. Some of the songs are more universal, a family started too soon is pertinent regardless of whether it's Consett or Clapham, it's the way the song moves people that matters.

Whilst the album has roots in folk, it also has roots in acoustic rock and you can here tones of the likes of the Waterboys, circa "This Is The Sea". Andy Loan, via The Ree-Vahs! and through "Geordieland" has created an album you feel matters very much to him and done it in such a way that you feel it matters to you as well. Job done, pride doesn't always come before a fall, sometimes it's a creative driver, check it out.

Neil King