David Brake & That Damn Band – Lean Mean Texas Machine (Westerland Records).

David Brake and his band have been described as Texas Y’Alternative and on listening to Lean Mean Texas Machine it’s not hard to understand why. He covers a number of genres on these eleven self-written songs and succeeds on most of them. The opener, Even Five To Closing Time (What Do I Do Now) is a straightforward contemporary country sing-along with Billy Curtis’ fiddle on top form. The eponymous title track is country rock with heavy slide guitar and is grungier than the more traditional opener. Born In A Bad Mood has blues overtones and its cagey introduction builds up into an excellent blues rocker – with fiddle!! There’s a return to the heavier side of country rock on Swindler with its Eagles style vocal harmonies whereas there’s a hint of Bob Dylan in the arrangement of Cowpunks, Angels and Architects which is delivered in a country/folk/rock style.

The first slow song on the album is 101 tattoos and it is completely different to what has gone before. He adds saxophone and piano, the result being more like a Ben Folds song than blues or country. All Mine brings back the heavier country sound and he almost goes alternative on this. He achieves the alt. sound on El Paso Café but the fiddle manages to hold on to the country roots. Think Of Me is a night club piano song and nothing more but the band return to form on The Ballad of Tom Delancy (Love Kicked My Ass). This is unashamed country with the fiddle going good guns. The album finishes all too soon with Sounds Of The Sacred. This is a bit too slow for a closing track in my opinion, (I’ve said in the past that I like albums to finish on the upbeat) but when David and the band come up with something that is a combination of Tom Waits and Bruce Hornsby then I shouldn’t be too churlish.

http://www.westerlandrecords.com/

Copyright David Blue 2006.