Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

To declare a commitment with a firm voice, to insist upon on direction with force, is to affirm that you believe you are accurate in your assessment of the situation at hand; and whilst at times such doubling down on a certain subject could be seen in some quarters of resting in a world of the unmovable and unreceptive to change. However, to Double Down On A Bad Thing is a firm stance taken where it confronts the obstinate and beams in a sense of gorgeous alteration to which even the seasoned freestyle Jazz musician might consider you have adopted a progressive proactive principle.

It is in the terrain of the musical courtesan the blues and extrovert headline pop find a place to coexist, and for the award-winning American band The Twangtown Paramours, that harmony of cohabitation goes beyond the upbeat, it is positive, it is the ignition point to which Double Down On A Bad Thing becomes the revving engine under the control of a dynamic powerhouse at the wheel.

Joining Marybeth Zamer, Mike T. Lewis, and Shawn Pelton on the album would be an ask of any talented musician, but in the core strength that resides in Dave Keyes, Rave Tesar, Steve Conn, Ed Alstrom, Will Barrow, Mark Deffenbaugh, Gary Dibenedetto, Dan Nigro, and Vinnie Cutro, the sense of contemporary synchronisation is complete, and as tracks such as That’s What The Blues Are For, Anyone But You, Whoa Nellie, the excellent I Miss Who I Thought You Were, My Gingerbread Man, and Sincerely Yours No More, the arc of the album becomes clear, and instead of a lament to a passing of emotions and relationships, this is the brimming anger, the rage of excess that grips us all in the final throes of the broken down machine.

This ignition felt becomes the nuclear button underneath the bountiful music on display which turns on its head and somehow with the grace and magic at the main trio’s disposal offers hope, and it is to be savoured, it is the true connection between the sardonic blues and the required pop in which to feel enthused once more.

For the Twangtown Paramours this album represents a fierceness of creativity, a hope insisted upon, doubling down on a path of belief that the music will be seen as heroic, but also charming; and as ever with such beliefs, the instigator is not only correct in their assumption, but that they should be applauded for bringing it to the listener’s attention.

Ian D. Hall