Woodenbox With A Fistful Of Fivers - Home and the Wildhunt

 

It seems lazy to automatically align any act with prominent brass and a Celtic swing with Dexy’s Midnight Runners, but sometimes knee-jerk comparisons are revealing. Ali Downey, a.k.a. Woodenbox, is the band’s Kevin Rowlands figure; guiding Home and the Wildhunt through its wind-swept prairie/barn dance blues aesthetic -- though only time will tell if he shares Rowland’s craving for reinvention. Along with a motley bunch of young soul rebels named the Fistful of Fivers – their moniker’s Morricone homage echoed in Nothing To Nobody’s plaintive harmonica and Hang the Noose’s mariachi parping – they project a laddish swagger on hoedowns like Besides the Point, but rein it in on their full band debut’s more sensitive numbers. It’s no insult to conclude their retro passions pale slightly next to Dexy’s best work, but there’s plenty to savour in the likes of Draw A Line’s whistling coda or the upbeat bounce of the closing My Mule. [Chris Buckle]