Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Everything returns to the space it once occupied, it might not feel the same, it might not carry the full weight of the vibe that once towered and loomed large over the shadows caught fighting for supremacy alongside nostalgia and reckoning, and yet it still feels homely, the pulse of experience carries it onwards, and there is a new appreciation for how the progression of the art, of the human soul, has been elevated to new standards, new ways of thinking.

Following the retirement of the superb Mick Hatz, nobody would have blamed Geoff Carne if he had taken a back seat for a while, regrouped over a couple of years and perhaps found solace, if not company, in reworking the music to which he and Mick Hatz offered to an adoring public. Thankfully the rage and inspiration run deeply within the veins of the musician, and with the addition of the Raw Rox Band, Jim Black, Zoki Jovanoski, Bob Calvert and Arby Rockman, the sense of purpose, the digging of what once drove Geoff Carne onwards, has once more come full circle, and the sound discovered is electric and satisfying.

A Big Town requires a large noise, one that refuses to be blown away by the indifference of traffic, of the passers-by with their heads in the clouds, but their satisfaction dragging at the heels and the shuffle of the downbeat and lost, and as tracks such as Hold On, She’s On Fire, Feel The Blues, Midnight Blue and the strong, almost majestic, presence of Are You Strong Enough? purposely frees the imagination and sets the standard to which the band will surely be noted for, a Big Town becomes centred on what radiates from its cultural passion, and in this case, culture, quality British Rock/Blues Roots is very much at the direct middle, the absolute epicentre of enjoyment.

Big Town, big noise, great passion, despite the natural passing of time and the curtailment of one avenue, another road, a highway of music, opens up gloriously, Geoff Carne & the Raw Rox Band have come out fighting with honour, with style, and that is all a place needs to be recognised as being fabulous.

Geoff Carne & the Raw Rox Band’s Big Town is out now.

Ian D. Hall