Dan Sartain - Join Dan Sartain

Reviving rockabilly - what a good idea. Of all the rebirths of musical genres, surely this music from the fifties, this prototype rock and roll, is the longest overdue. No one can disguise the rawness of this country-infused, bluegrass ridden medium, with its influences much more apparent than the smooth quagmire of Buddy Holly's back catalogue, for example.

Alabama's Dan Sartain is the perfect artist with which to transpose rockabilly onto modern times. His sleazy guitar would normally reside in backroom bars in faceless American towns, where the locals ogle at the buxom waitress before taking another sip from their whiskey. He more bemoans life than sings about it, and this short sharp rock and roll is the perfect medium in which to carry his thoughts.

His blues is not the lament of an ignored culture, it is music rife with the anger of an obstinate young man. "When I'm alone it's because I choose to be alone" he declares on opening track Drama Queens. Gun Vs Knife is his proud, belligerent cry in the midst of a battle he can't win.

Over 15 jaunty tracks, none of which breach the three minute mark, Dan Sartain shows himself to be a considerable song writer. Though he will undoubtedly sound better live, 'Join Dan Sartain' is a peek into the realm of an intriguing character. [Mike Duffy]