I’ll Dream Alone’ is the ninth studio album from Pat Todd & his Rank Outsiders, a guy who should be a household name in raw roots rock n roll if the world were fair and just and rock ‘ n ‘ roll music was rightly appreciated by those who tune in a /or drop out. For those who don’t know or care, I’m going to let you know that once you’re done listening to this bad boy, you’ll need to investigate the LAzy Cowgirls because that’s where Pat and some of his Rank Outsiders hail from, along with the LA Guns, it would seem. They play real, roots, raw rock n roll; it’s as simple as that. There isn’t a magic formula, just some guys who write and perform to the best blueprint there is. It’s loud and infectious and always produced really well, which should appeal to anyone with a sympathetic ear for the good stuff. On this here record, they’ve poured twelve chunks of that good stuff onto the wax and kick it off with the lead single ‘Desire Has Left Town,’ a foot on the monitor wedge, head-down slab of no-nonsense boogie-woogie with a subtle hook on the chorus that leans into the guitar break that is of classic vintage, and the subtle shift in gear and tempo is majestic. If you’re not punching the air when the song fades away, I’d call a medic.

The songs have been road-tested and recorded at the same Californian studio the last two albums have, so they must be comfortable as the good times pour through the speakers ‘Ambition Street’ starts like they’ve found the Johnny Thunders / Chuck Berry mainline from the next life, as that bass line walks as the finest heartbreakers’ basslines did whilst rampaging like the bastard child of ‘Mama Kin’.

The pace is a little bit measured on ‘We’re Outta Time’ compared to the openers, but it’s still as cool as a polar bear sitting on a fox’s glacier mint. Hell, it’s got handclaps and woohoo’s. ‘Mediocre Hearts’ is almost horizontal in its late night smokey grab your gal slow dance number, but it’s got a sweet harmonica solo in the middle of a wonderful, lazy tempo.

The tempo is picked up again as shots are fired and the backbeat gets the blood pumping before ‘The Last of Me’ starts a punch-up to end side one in fine style.

Replenish your glass because side two kicks off with ‘Blood And Gunpowder’, and that’s followed by ‘Night Beat’, dedicated to Randy Stone, with a thumping rhythm that drives the song on before Pat takes a breather and Guitarist Nick Alexander jumps onto the mic and delivers some cool licks and vocals. If you want some wholesome roots Americana, then ‘Can’t Get Arrested In This Town’ will have your cup overflowing. It’s Green On Red Dan Baird countrified balladeering with more of that sweet gob iron wheezing in all the right places, making it one hell of a song.

As the album slides to its natural end, the penultimate rocker is ‘The World Don’t Need You’ that kicks up some dust before the title track throws some petrol on proceedings and crashes and burns with one of the album’s finest rockers that also has some awesome keyboard flourishes adding to the chaos and final hurrah. It’s always a great day to review a Pat Todd And The Rank Outsiders record because you just know you’re gonna get an honest record full of fine tunes, well written, well recorded and bloody well delivered – if you love yourself some Rock n Roll, then grab ‘I’ll Dream Alone’ and get on board. Buy It!

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Author: Dom Daley