As a way of warming up for Friday's Punk Britannia live night (details here), another member of the first wave of new wavers - Brian James, formerly of The Damned and Lords of the New Church, has just rolled out a fruity new album of acoustic tunes. 250 words were readied last Autumn for then due Vive Le Rock, but with album delays, it never made the print edition. Nothing goes to waste around here - so lend your eyes and ears to a Chateau Brian below...
Thirty Five years on from The Damned's slab-handed riffing and the Lords of the New Church gothic rockings, Brian James strips away the overdriven amps and Telecaster attack for his new album of acoustic blues and campfire mantras.
The Stones have always been one of The Damned's default influences and Chateau is no exception. Mick 'n' Keef's sticky fingerprints are dabbed all over the tracks - from the Beggars Banquet stomp of Treat a Lady to the Exile style shuffle and swish of Teasin’ Me Baby. Digging deeper, James has traced these rootsy references to their source - the earthy dirt and death row confessionals of Lightning Hopkins, R L Burnside and Robert Johnson.
But it's not all dark doings and shady tales - the lightness of Ronnie Lane breaks through on Tipitinas’. Chateau Brian's hobo honky-tonkers and battered blues are the perfect soundtrack backdrop as autumn's stretched shadows begin to set in for winter
Brian James Grand Cru - Tipitinas’
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