Southern Tenant Folk Union – The Chuck Norris Project

Concept albums tend to divide opinion. The best reveal a loose theme that binds songs, but a rigid template can as easily suffocate creativity as inspire it. On their sixth album, Southern Tenant Folk Union have chosen to dress up their most political collection of songs to date in the cloak of Chuck Norris; a man famously so tough that he never calls the wrong number, you answer the wrong phone.

Each track is named after a Norris film, inspired by a 2012 campaign video by the actor imploring Americans to vote for Mitt Romney. It's a strange framing device. Two years on from the event, Romney is yesterday's man and Norris remains little more than the butt of very old internet jokes. It doesn't sit right with Slaughter in San Francisco, a touching reflection on senseless school shootings. The skill of the group's multi-instrumentalists is apparent throughout, but the Norris factor often overshadows rather than elevates these songs. [Chris McCall]