The Ballroom Band
Album: Desert Tales
Label: Self Released
Tracks: 6
Website: http://www.theballroomband.com/en

For a couple of years now, The Ballroom Band have been one of my favourite Scandinavian bands and that's in amongst some pretty tough competition there, right across the acoustic spectrum, though in fairness, there's not many other surf-alt.country-dirty mariachi acts in that region, or anywhere else come to think of it. I guess the closest easy to get reference would be Calexcio and even there I'm not sure.

The band have been described as sounding like the soundtrack to a sleazy Quentin Tarrentino movie and it's something they seem to have taken to heart, as the opening track to the band's latest EP, "Desert Tales" is modestly titled, "The Ballroom Band Theme". Imagine a Eli Wallach approaching a broken down saloon, covered in the detritus of the trail and there's a solitary figure sat on the porch between him and the bar and now set that to music.

Ok, that's not exactly cliché free and in all fairness, neither is the music of The Ballroom Band, but no one watches spaghetti westerns for the strength of the plot, people watch them because there's nothing like a bit of mindless escapism, with plenty of action and, maybe, a girl to be rescued.

It's here that sound and film go off at a tangent, with no visuals to fill in, words pick up the stories and they do it well. If this was just escapism, that might be enough for a couple of plays, in order to really impress, this type of release needs staying power and that's exactly what it's got.

It helps that it's performed in English and I think that rough around the edge feel is enhanced by it not being the first language as that adds a phraseology that sets it apart from home grown and English Americana. The only real disappointment I had around "Desert Tales" is that it's only an EP, fingers crossed for an album soon.

Neil King