Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

Rumours are spread by the insincere and listened to by fools and the conniving, and yet some rumours, especially the ones that come with the blessing of the sound of trumpets and played in tune to the ragtime and the energetic and cool, they are the ones in which to place your trust, to phone your friends with the gossip and the tale of pleasure to come; a quick word to those you know and trust to expediate the speculation onwards; and in prospect of Rag ‘n Roll, the Dutch masters, The Ragtime Rumours are true, the mood is swinging.

From the busking streets to full force endeavour, The Ragtime Rumours prove with dedication that anything is possible, belief in whistling to a different beat is to be applauded, and that the past jive is alive and well, that the sound of Harlem and Haarlem can bring out the same value of resource; that there really is no difference between the 1920s swinging cool and what we can produce today, an evening of fun, a sound of extraordinary consequences.

In Tom Janssen, Niki Van Der Schuren, Thimo Gijezen and Sjaak Korsten’s dominating idealism and experience, that sound is real, it fills the air with hope and across wonderfully woven tunes such as Turn Every Dollar, Hookman, Stop That Train, Everywhere I Go, the blistering The Cigar, Humanity and Wayfairing Stranger, the urgency, the style, the crispness of delivery is all based in perfect attitude, a sense of the revolution required when producing a debut album, go all out and live like it is the last day, every day, an attitude which does this band absolute credit.

If alchemy exists then The Ragtime Rumours have found the secret, stolen, or just received with great care by the wizards of the genre’s past, entrusted to do the music proud; to send out the message that in this debut album that the vigorous rumours are really the significant talk of the town. A fantastic album, an explosion of taste and consistency, an album which redefines the boundary in which such music is made; it may be only Rag ‘n Roll, but you’re sure to like it!

Ian D. Hall