Teenage years are just a blur, come hell or high water, so says NYC alt-country afficianado DOUG KEITH. Keith's departure from punk rock (The New Yorker is the former GODS HATE KANSAS bassist) sees his command of the four-string guitar utilised superbly in this album's title track as it motors thanks to its bassline and beautifully submerged primary school string arrangement.
"Just gimme the keys and the money dear/ Home is not too far from here" he croons:
'Maria Del Bosco' is a super follow-up. Repetition and reverberation aids the whipped-up hi-gain surfer tides, with the highest ivories accordingly tinkled. It's a pre-antidote to murky pessimistic ode 'The Lowest Low', a half-tempo twanging slice of Americana that comes complete with understated Hammond accompaniment.
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Prozac-ramshackle ditty 'Don't Let Your Darkness Overtake You' is a stand-out track, as is the string-based and sleepy 'On The Kid And The Days'.
However, the tracks in between hang perhaps a little too heavy on the heart and mind, even allowing for the record's focus being firmly fixed on the wider horizons in true U.S. style.
It's both a hit, and a miss, is this, as ultimately 'The Lucky Ones' both strikes a chord and misses the mark during the course of its eleven track voyage.
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