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The
Happy Drivers
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We
Shall Be Going On
Babe Please Dont
Go We Shall Be
Going On My
Bopping Rocking Babe
The Fun Of It
Midnight Train
Popeye Low
Rider Old Black
Jack Long Blond
Hair You Will
Never Come Back Again
Oh Babe My
Daddys Banjo
When you listen 20 years
later to an album you
liked a lot as a
teenager, its very
hard to actually know if
you like it for good
reasons. Does this album
have real qualities or is
this just pure nostalgia?
For We Shall Be
Going On the answer
is : both.
On one hand, if you want
to be objective, you can
say that the sound is a
bit thin, Jean Christophes
voice is from time to
time out of tune and his
pronounced French accent
a bit present. But this
album has its own
qualities. The boys wrote
their own songs (even if
Low Rider sounds very
close to Stray Cats
Built For Speed) with
varied influences from
straight rockabilly to
blues, with detours by
neo-rockabilly and bit of
country too (you can find
a banjo on some songs).
The covers, including
Dave Phillips The
Fun Of It are very
well chosen. All this
elements, and I cant
deny a bit of nostalgia
too, make of this debut
album an enjoyable
listening experience,
even two decades later.
Fred "Virgil"
Turgis |
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Indians
On The Road
Indians Im
Not A Hero Tear It
Up Nervous Man
Babe, Im
Gonna Leave You
Crawdad Hole
This time, theres
not the shadow of a doubt
and nostalgia has nothing
to do here, this mini 10
album is plain good. The
Happy Drivers, on a short
distance that advantages
them, deliver 6 songs : 2
covers (a raucous version
of Tear It Up and a banjo
led Crawdad Hole) and 4
solid originals. Since
their previous release,
they have hardened their
sound. Not exactly
psychobilly, but no
longer 50s
rockabilly, they created
their own brand of modern
rockabilly. Indians
features the appropriate
drum beat, as you can
imagine, and a citation
of The Shadows
Apache (of course). Next
you have Im
Not A Hero a wild
modern rockabilly that
shows how tight the band
was at that time. Nervous
Man is nervous for
sure, a really heavy
number (strong guitar and
raspy voice) that
prefigures what will
follow with War
their third album. JC has
really worked on his
voice and you also hear
that the band benefited
of a real studio and
enough time to work their
sound. The fourth self
penned number, Babe
Im Gonna Leave You
is simply perfect, a
frantic rockabilly. With
this 10 the Happy
Drivers had a level
rarely reached by French
bands.
Fred "Virgil"
Turgis |
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