Liverpool Sound and Vision rating * * * *
It is the simplicity of the message that often carries across a joy in performance caught for posterity, a simple measure of a well delivered story finding an ear of appreciation into which a meaning, a semblance of truth can be measured and gauged; it is in these stories of love, life and head on Folk music of an Antipodean nature that The James Brothers pursue as if running towards some great sunrise, some new dawn, in the distance.
The James Brothers, James Fagan and Jamie McClennan bring their self-titled album to a northern hemisphere audience and the taste of adventure and freedom that sits and swells in the heart of anyone from New Zealand and Australia is remarkable and uplifting; even when the subject matter is of a dark and brooding nature, the songs seem to convey a sense of the ruggish charm and the roguish appeal that makes the art of the story teller beam with pride at having delivered such a finely crafted tale.
It is in the brooding that the songs seem so familiar, almost universal, and in Mick O’Rourke’s The Poison Train the song of seething anger about the closure of the local railway lines in Australia, the song resonates with any who have reason to detest the actions of Dr. Beeching in the home of the railway system, it is a track that captures the stupid lack of foresight in such unwarranted acts of vandalism.
The Poison Train rings true because it is steeped in Universal understanding and like The Voyage of The Buffalo, a rendition of a ballad written in the 1800s about a penal transport ship and a marvellous cover of the Split Enz’s Six Months In A Leaky Boat, the music captured by James Fagan and Jamie McClennan as the James Brothers gives off that special vibe that cannot be underestimated but only cheered in vast quantities.
Armed with rugged smile and the ability to bring the tales of the conscious driven and the respect for those who forged out life in such a harsh environment, The James Brothers is an album of both warmth and sincerity, of spirit and intrigue; in the end the past can always offer something new, whether in perspective or understanding, for the James Brothers it is undeniably an undertaking fuelled by knowledge.
Ian D. Hall