Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Miami is not only a place, it is an institution. A city in which British travellers minds may turn to when thinking of the one place on America’s Eastern continental edge to which the history (New York, Philadelphia, Boston), the gambling and sense of old style profiteering (New Jersey) and the consequence of squabbles, in fighting and racial tension, (anywhere that verges and bleeds into North V South) play almost no part; Miami is the Mediterranean of the North Americas, it is the place to go when everything else has been done and what should be next is the rest and relaxation, the apparent fun and the soulful looking for meaning in later life. Miami is not a place; it is a state of mind.

For Dave McCabe & the Ramifications it is also the place to find the humble and yet utterly groovy, the disco infected merging neatly with the Liverpool Rock, it is the outcome of a long fruitful search away from the glory that is The Zutons and the praise that comes naturally with the Church Of Miami.

Far away, and yet so close enough to still get a kick from the particular cordial mix that runs through the streets of Liverpool, that brought the Zutons together and the renaissance that has kept on giving since the dawn of the new century, Miami has never sounded so appealing, the city of a thousand sins, of heartbreak, of beautiful oddness and a certain type of serenity, is glorified with charm and typical Liverpool thought. It is a city that is surrounded by a natural urge to party, reject the stereotypical and the Church Of Miami reflects this wonderfully.

More catchy than a Dolphins fan finding a giant hand to wave around inside the sports arena, Church Of Miami offers the listener an album that is both enjoyable and under the table complicated. Once the listener has worked out the significance of such ear grabbing and leg moving music, everything else falls into place and with songs such as the album’s title track, the superb Too Damn Good, Intertwine and the excellent Time & Place all offering a groove and a spirit of intense pleasure, Church Of Miami is found to be a place of true devout worship; a worship that might not strike at the heart of any fundamental religious exposure but one that still punches the walls with eager anticipation.

For Dave McCabe & the Ramifications, this is a tremendous start to a new way of thinking, sincere, playful and with more than just an eye on the local scenery, the Church Of Miami is a place of alternative reverence; a place where sins don’t have to be confessed, just celebrated and danced to.

Ian D. Hall