Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Somewhere between Ashbury Keys debut album being unleashed and the release of Dancers in 2001, the Texas Power pop trio took a trip from very good into the territory of the outstanding band they would become.

As with many debut albums it is but a small glimpse into what the group will eventually offer the world. Some of the greatest ever bands, the mightiest of musical oaks, all started with a nod towards the inevitable power they would hold over their audiences and Ashbury Keys have proved not to be an exception. The initial outburst of the debut piece continued to grow, perhaps at a fairly more accelerated pace than thought and would still have to go some to outpace any of their peers but Dancers doesn’t disappoint, it radiates warmth and a growing respect for the band and their brand of music which would see them become one of the greats of Texas.

The trio put several more notches of energy into this recording, which may always be the case with every band, but there is something else as well. Away from the possible hype that would have inevitably started to surround the group like several grizzly bears circling a campsite because they smell meat being cooked, the album cleverly highlights a growing belief in Ashbury Keys sound, their own confidence and faith in their songs and what they could put out with some degree of certainty that the public would enjoy it.

Tracks such as the openers Angry and Out Of My Hands represent fully what the listener will come to expect in the future but the pivotal change is there on the songs Better Than Nothing, the title track of the album Dancers and Stay Here With You all combine with power, lyrics that set to beguile and the beginning of what can only be described as a richness of depth that would come to fruition later in the groups discography.

Some second albums, the fateful offering to an audience that can neglect a band when in search of a new immediate fix, crash and burn, others though take the band on another step, the journey only just beginning, in Ashbury Keys’ case, it is most positively the latter.

Ian D. Hall