It’s been eight years between records for Texan Tommy but like a fine wine, Almost a decade is good, it’s time to mature ideas and ready them to unleash when people least expect it. Choosing to record in the UK with London-based band The Snakes the band settled down to begin recording way back in 2019 but a family emergency followed by a global pandemic put pay to such good intentions.

The album kicks off in style with an upbeat and confident ‘Hideaway’ with a cool feel to the arrangement and it sounds like a band who are ready to get down to business – brimming with energy and Hales’s cool lyrics and melody it’s a mighty fine opener that’s for sure making the listener sit up and pay attention.

There’s more to ‘All At Sea’ than some guitar-driven Americana as ‘World Won’t Wait’ enters the fray with an 80s synth and ‘My Sherona’ beat signalling a bright power pop edge. There’s definitely an Alt rock edge to some of the songwriting and a widescreen view to songwriting going on as the cool breezy feel almost a Dan Stuart style to ‘Let’s Start A Fire’ and I like it a lot it’s like a paragraph from a Karouk novel as it builds to the chorus that’s got an edge and oozes class.

The next couple of tracks dance on the darker edges of alternative guitar-driven music before that power pop edge is back with a punchy ‘Now You Know’ with its thumping rhythm section and cowbell use – hell yeah! The ebb and flow of the record is excellent as is the individual quality of the songs on offer. ‘Radio Towers’ smoulders where ‘How The Story Goes’ just cuts loose and rocks out with a carefree tempo as it pours bourbon on the fire before the laid-back ‘Last Town Before The Border’ brings you back down to earth with its countrified acoustic leanings. It’s got a big heart and a lot of soul before the closing title track leaves you with a heart full of Rock and Roll in many guises but with credibility and a great flow to the whole record. Go on dig in, it might just be a record that you want to play over and over. Buy IT!

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Author: Dom Daley