Findlay Napier And The Bar Room Mountaineers
Album: File Under Fiction
Label: Watercolour
Tracks: 12
Website: http://www.findlaynapier.com/

Findlay Napier is a talented singer-songwriter from Glasgow and, together with his band the Bar Room Mountaineers, has made an excellent album in File Under Fiction. Findlay has a great way with lyrics [in the tradition of his main influences Elvis Costello and Loudon Wainwright III ],which he delivers in a strong Scottish accent,in much the same way as The Proclaimers do.

Findlay is a graduate of the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama and after graduating joined the award-winning band Back of the Moon,who toured from 2000 to 2007 and released three critically acclaimed albums. Findlay also recorded two albums with Nick Turner under the name of "Queen Anne's Revenge ".

His current band, Findlay Napier And The Bar Room Mountaineers released their first album "Out All Night" in 2009 at the Cambridge Folk Festival. Since then they have released three singles,leading up to the latest album "File Under Fiction". And a fine album it is too.

The Bar Room Mountaineers are a tight-knit unit who provide a polished musical backdrop to Findlay's clever wordsmithery . The band comprises Gillian Frame [ vocals,fiddle], Douglas Millar [ vocals, piano, Rhodes] and Scott Mackay [vocals,drums] . Those who admired Helen O'Hara's fiddle playing in Dexy's Midnight Runners will doubtless enjoy Gillian's playing on this album. Whilst the musicianship and production on this album are excellent, it is the songwriting that really stands out. Things get off to a great start with the title track, which is an upbeat, Costello-ish song about a love-sick librarian, with a catchy chorus.

"Cutting Her In Two" is another excellent song about a magician who is unable to express his feelings for his glamorous assistant ["Confronting her would not be wise, and thank God she can't read your mind"].

The tempo slows down for "One For The Ditch", a lovely song with some excellent piano and fiddle . "Valentine's Day" is a catchy number about a man who is on his own on Valentine's Day [Every year it's the same, I'm the odd man out ].

"Heels Over Head " begins with the great lines " I'm about as rock and roll as a cup of tea and an early night "and is a tender ballad about a shy man's infatuation with " a girl Mum would have hated ", who shows too much flesh and "does these movies". Excellent stuff!

The next song "Cut Me Off " starts with " You got a restraining order to keep me 50 yards away " and is the unusual tale of a stalker who ends up being stalked by his victim and who has to get a restraining order himself! It also has a great chorus "Cut Me Off I'll Grow Back Bigger" and features some excellent fiddle playing from Gillian Frame.

Findlay's songwriting prowess is amply demonstrated on the penultimate track," Raise A Glass", which uses military imagery to describe the drudgery of the workplace and the desire of the worker to get away "Like a rat from a trap I am out of here ". In sentiment, it is reminiscent of "Matthew and Son "by Cat Stevens.

I must say that I am very impressed with this album. Findlay is an excellent songwriter who does not waste a single word in drawing pen-pictures of the characters who inhabit his songs. Like Elvis Costello, he manages to combine great writing with a pop sensibility. Highly recommended.

Peter Cowley