Lone Justice
Album: This Is Lone Justice The Vaught Tapes 1983
Label: Omnivore
Tracks: 12
Website: http://www.omnivorerecordings.com

Lone Justice were always one of my favourite bands, even though they crashed and burned way too soon, the weight of expectation heavy on their shoulders and vultures waiting in the winds to pick the carcass clean once the whole thing collapsed.

Lone Justice were Maria McKee, Ryan Hedgecock, Marvin Etzione and Don Heffington, at least they were for the first album, with only vocalist Maria McKee making it to the second and even she decided to call it a day at that point, going down the solo path and at least at the start of her solo career, a number of ex-Lone Justice confederates both recording with her and playing live.

It was the 80s, Lone Justice gained popularity in LA by word of mouth and soon big names were sniffing around the band and a deal with Geffen resulted. Dates in the UK followed and an appearance or two on Whistle Test, which is where I first saw them, had their debut album charting stronger over here than in the USA. There was even a live video album, put out on the quickly defunct Hendring label, which just didn't get any real distribution. Sometimes fate is not in your favour.

All of the band have gone onto other things, but it a reflection of the quality of their two albums and particularly the debut, the self titled, "Lone Justice" that it was felt worthy of releasing the recently available Vaught Tapes, named after David Vaught, the sound engineer who captured an album's worth of material in a remarkable two day session.

The session is raw, recorded to two track tape pretty much live, and it comes at you pretty much as it was made. Lone Justice back in 1983, were young, brash, played their alt.country, rockabilly, with an at times punk rock attitude that really contrasted the other influence on the band, gospel.

To my knowledge none of the tracks here have been released before from this session, in fact I think there's only three that made it to album subsequently, "Soap, Soup And Salvation", "Working Man's Blues" and "This World Is Not My Home".

Most of the songs came from within the band and it showed the strength of writing within the unit that so many of these songs never made the debut album. There's a couple of covers thrown in for good measure, including a version of "Jackson", which is the only song on the album that doesn't quite work for me, especially against tracks like "Dustbowl Depression Time" and "When Love Comes Home To Stay"

There are some excellent sleeve notes, compiled by Chris Morris, which include all of the original members of the band. Unfortunately David Vaught died back in 2013, but this recording is quite a memorial to him as much to the spirit of a band that he captured pretty much at their raw prime.

Neil King