Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

There is no doubting that many artists do put a lot of thought into the naming of a body of work, some though leave you scratching your head as if the meaning is lost, perhaps even translated wrong between your language and the utter gibberish that has placed itself onto the sleeve as if waiting for someone, anyone, to get the joke.

However for Wily Bo Walker and his latest collaboration with E. D. Brayshaw, Stone Cold Beautiful is up there with album titles that just fit so well that the sides slip easily into place, the join never found and the crease ironed out so flat that the harmony between man and guitar soars higher than an Eagle with a jet-pack attached to its body and an oxygen mask strapped firmly to its beak.

Stone Cold Beautiful indeed, for where the listener could rightly expect Wily Bo Walker could be as charming and delightful as he has always been, this latest set of songs is almost as if the listener has been allowed a private audience and the sound of generosity of spirit is sacrosanct to the appreciation found. Whilst other albums will make perhaps a greater claim to be being a focal point of beauty, Stone Cold Beautiful has definition of character and above all two men playing throughout as if the Venus Di Milo was able to clap her hands and giggle with excitement, as befitting a muse.

Whilst only being six songs long, Stone Cold Beautiful adds much weight to that new adage of the modern age, less is more. It seems to work for the bands bringing though more E.P.s than albums, but it is also a double edged sword in that it also lends speculation and talk to the argument that the concentration levels of the population has regressed. For this album, whilst beautiful and stoic, also perhaps dips into that realm.

Half a dozen songs or not, there is nothing quite like the quality of the arrangement and the lyrics that sit comfortably in songs such as Motel Blues, September Red and the gorgeous Killers On The Run. They blaze like a red hot poker and smoulder like a adoring gaze from a secret admirer, for that alone Wily Bo Walker is once again to be congratulated on bringing taste to the Blues deprived.

A wonderful set of songs that leaves you wanting so much more.

Ian D. Hall