Alberta Cross - The Thief and the Heartbreaker

Rather than using the past as a jumping off point for their own explorations, London's Alberta Cross are stuck there indefinitely. Mining Neil Young's fiery jams and mellow chords, they create a broken landscape, where the devil is on every street corner and hearts are broken, yet hopeful. Starting off with the epic The Thief and the Heartbreaker, they switch to a 1960s blues pop for Lucy Rider. There is nothing terribly original, but the affection that the band has for their sources makes this more than lazy imitation: their impersonations are so perfect that Tom Petty would be proud. Petter Ericson Stakee's voice soars and moans over warm guitars and floating organ on closer The Devil is All You Ever Had, building to an intense climax. Hardly groundbreaking in itself, it is a successful tribute to the power of simple arrangements and hints that the duo has the potential to find their own path. [Gareth K Vile]