Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
We strive for happiness, but we settle for contentment, even constant gratification, never realising that amongst it all, the rubble of the life we may have lived, or the punishment of our own self-denial, we can find happiness by capturing lightning in a jar, one self-made, one that holds the key to the simplest of smiles.
The past has a way of returning a smile to our lips when we least expect it, an old friend not seen for twenty years suddenly knocking on your door, an unexpected turn of fortune which paves the way to moving on and away from regret and misery, the past may appear to haunt but instead, as Kristi Callan proves with satisfaction, it can also lead you to the place where being Happy is more than a fleeting glance in the mirror, it is the symbolic gesture of goodwill from life.
If you can spare even a quarter of your time, then a Dime Box Band will float the boat of anyone who will come into contact with it, not least of all because of the inclusion of the superb Kristi Callan, who first came to prominence with the Los Angeles based band Wednesday Week in the latter half of the 1980s but also through the emotional family ties that exemplify the close harmony and the determination to see those you are close to succeed and progress.
Being Happy maybe a state of mind, but it takes dedication to any cause and a sheer love of humanity to bring others into that conviction of subtle pleasure. For Lyn Bertles, Nick Vincent, Alex Vincent, James Nolte and Kristi Callan, the Americana sound is all consuming, the passion they display on tracks such as Everybody Lies, As The Crow Flies, What Went Wrong, Close Your Eyes, Butterflies is overwhelming and charming, and yet it contains a deep longing, of an unstoppable approach to the ethos of Rock ‘n’ Roll, one that has no qualms of immersing itself in the world of the Happy.
An album that proves its worth by staying true to the core values of the musicians who strove to make it exist, there is no finer compliment to the listener.
Dime Box Band’s Happy is out now.
Ian D. Hall