Stick In The Wheel
Album: Bones EP
Label: Self Released
Tracks: 6
Website: http://www.stickinthewheel.com

That this review is later than it should be may give the impression that Stick In The Wheel's new Bones EP is a grower, rather than instantly accessible, but actually that's only half true. The reality is that this is an EP that I've enjoyed from the start and it's just grown from there. The reason that this is slightly late is that I'd taken it out of the review pile to play on my radio show and put in back in the wrong place.

Fortunately I'm about to redress that and make you aware, if you're not already, of an exceptional ep that genuinely captures the timeless quality of folk music and also goes a long way towards explaining why a slipware jug can be so much more beautiful than the finest bone china tea pot, quite simply it's down to form and function, the former is a joy to work with, it's practical, it has an aesthetic quality, but it's real delight is that it's part of daily life, whilst the latter, though prettier and more refined, gets left for Sunday best and used less often.

You get the feeling that Stick In The Wheel perform for the sheer joy of it all. You get a real sense of enjoyment coming through when you listen to the band, that and a real pride in the history of the songs, songs that have survived because they are good songs and they're good songs because they have been sung in the pubs and been part of everyday.

The "Bones EP" is raw, at time almost aggressive, but it contains songs that were written to express anger, to reflect the streets that spawned them. Stick In The Wheel are a band for every day, but that doesn't mean they are ordinary.

Neil King