STONEY JOE – BROWN BREAD AND RICE
Stoney Joe has a couple of tracks (one doubles as the album title) – Brown Bread and Rice and Beans n Corn – that sound more like a shopping list, but it’s a really sophisticated and thoughtful recording. It’s Country. Country and Western. Western Australia that is. One of the many highlight tracks is Goin’ Down to Freo, referring to Fremantle where this record was mixed. All the usual sounds of the genre are here. Acoustic guitars, slide guitar, ukulele, mandolin and harmonica. The sequencer and synthesiser is a bit of a surprise and is used well, providing a refreshing twist. The poetic lyrics are wonderful. In Never Been To Bali a couple of stand out lines are “I’ve never been to Bali, but I don’t wanna go.” and ” I’ve never been to the USA but I’ve seen it on TV”. I Want a City is a lovely list of things that are impossibly perfect. A few cliched ones like “I want a rose that has no thorns” but there’s a few quirky ones like “I wanna be green in a 4×4”. A well rounded and wonderful album that mixes things up.
*** 1/2
