Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

The mighty rivers of the world are the life blood of humanity, without trade and transport far in land, the sound of a thousand voices carrying distinctive tunes and songs filled with endless possibilities would be lost to us. The Mersey brings the sound of Liverpool to the rest of the world just as it bought the music from America that started a long tradition of inspiration the other way. The same could be said of the Mississippi, the long straddling, winding river that took Huckleberry Finn on his adventures; you would be forgiven though if the sound of the deep-south suddenly had an Irish inflection as Rusty Jacks releases their new album Holler ‘N’ Howl.

The love of the music that is evident throughout the album is wildly infectious and the unconscious taste of rebellion, of nights under the American stars and camp fires keeping warm steam boat workers as they discuss the gamblers, the passengers and women in long skirts with deep handbags to match all filter through the mind as Holler ‘N’ Howl begins to glide at first unseen before pouncing like a snake as it goes for the heart, its guitar like fangs sinking in deeply and putting in the Blues deep into the veins of the listener.

The humour is not lost upon the listener though, this is no straightforward deep-south Blues riding along the Delta, this is infused with the sense of pride that the Irish people carry with them wherever they go. There is no need for apology, and apology would never be forthcoming for music is meant to be enjoyed, not just churned out and spilled into a various handy containers and in tracks such as Never Had The Blues Before, You Tease Me, Saturday Night Again and a quite astounding cover of Free’s The Hunter, the taste of the deep-south gets right down into the gullet and mixes liberally with the ideals of five musicians on a rampage.

Holler ‘N’ Howl is worth shouting about, a deeply fascinating look at another country’s music through the eyes of genuine lovers, it is an album filled with affection for a different time and place.

Ian D. Hall