Anarcho-Cowpunk Ghostwriter (aka Steve Schechter) recorded this CD virtually live at a friend’s house in Austin Texas, and the result is a raw blast of primitive rock’n’roll. Playing all instruments himself, mainly guitar, harmonica and some banjo (but not played like you’ve ever heard before!) it is harsh and unforgiving, challenging and authentic in a way that The White Stripes could barely dream of.
This was recommended to me on the basis of an intense and moody live performance that saw an unsuspecting, trendy London audience being reduced to open-mouthed shock and awe. It sucks its lifeblood, in vampiric fashion, from early rockabilly and delta blues but the performance owes a debt to the likes of The Fall, The Cramps and vocally, Birthday Party era Nick Cave.
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‘Desolate’ is just that, ‘Preacher’s Daughter’ employs that aforementioned steely banjo and contains the closest to a chorus/hook - albeit one that sings of a preacher’s daughter impressed by the narrator’s chemical intake. ‘False Hearted’ is a snarling and spitting rendition of a traditional ‘hate ballad’ and probably the best track on offer.
Overall, it is perhaps too one-dimensional, too unrelenting and would undoubtedly benefit from some light and shade but it would be great fun to witness his apparently black-suited, mean, moody and hair-raising live set!
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