Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Not everyone will have heard of Bakersfield but its influence is not to be underestimated on the world of music and whilst that world may be looking as if it times it is stalling, that the residue of backward looking and non-progressive music politics can at times hinder. One band that takes the step forward is L.A.’s Speedbuggy USA and in South of Bakersfield the homage to the home of Twang is a welcome and fulfilling experience in which the listener feels grateful for the band’s punk country outlook.

The sound that the Speedbuggy USA offer is direct, almost unstoppable, it is the musical equivalent of a juggernaut rampaging its way across the Southern states, its precious cargo rocking and rolling in the vast space behind the driver, and with no stop sign capable of putting a halt to the speeding behemoth.

It is a behemoth that just strikes the listener with a sense of power, of importance and the huge task of reaffirming the sound that came out of Bakersfield. More importantly it restates how vital bands such as Speedbuggy USA are to the continuation of insightful music coming out of the southern areas.

It is a story of survival; an album in which the spirit of solidarity bangs against the doom merchants who suggested that time and health were against them. With the band rallying round Timbo after what could have been fatal to both the man and the stature of the group, songs such as the exposing 1000 Miles From Nowhere, the fantastic Rusted Car, the only song that doesn’t deal with Bakersfield but instead the psychological effects of what happened to Louisiana during the disaster to hit the state and the many lives that were needlessly lost, the excellent Liars, Thieves and Ramblers and Wrong Side, which features Bunny West, that survival, that enduring presence is assured.

Although in spirit the band never truly went away, Speedbuggy USA are back with a bang and the explosive resonance that fills every track is one to watch, it is one to revel in.

Ian D. Hall