Review:'Davies, Richard & The Dissidents' 'High Times & Misdemeanours'
- Label: 'Gard Du Nord Records'
- Genre: 'Rock'
- Release Date: '14.2.25.'
Our Rating:
High Times & Misdemeanours is the latest album from Richard Davies & the Dissidents, it's every bit as good as the debut album Human Traffic was a few years ago. The Tiny Monroe legend who also plays in Marc Valentines equally brilliant band, got his old Snakes band mates Simon Moor to produce his Dissidents, who are Tim Emery, Chris Cannon, Nick Beere and Neil Scully.
The album opens with Keep Your Fires Burning hoping to help stoke us all up, to keep on have fun being passionate and going for what we want too, over sympathetic bluesy backing.
Soldier Of Fortune is for those friends we all have, who always work for the highest bidder, no matter how demeaning the job maybe, while it sounds like he'll be happy being offered the job in the classic 70's rock band, so long as they didn't have to play covers all night long, Hitting one great Only Ones style guitar solo every 6 minutes all night long.
Human On The Inside no matter how much of a cold front you put up, everyone has to open there emotions every once in a while, let that love in, forgive him any trespasses, it's just how it is.
Born To Drown love goes wrong in Paris against the rising organ, strings pull at you, she walks those streets, guitar stuttering behind her heels, everything is gonna fall apart, someone stole her Hoople.
Lead Me Out Of The Wilderness like a lost Stones Bruised ballad, he just needs a minute of your time, yeah he does it quick and splits, but he wants to stick around for once, if you'll let him.
Lover Of The Bayou sounds like Dylan is covering it in the late 70's, expansive, expressive getting deep into the heart of where the Byrds were coming from.
Age Of The Blade an anthem for the desperate days of Knife Crime, or is Richard obsessed with the Blade series of films.
Suburbia is power pop glory for the delights of being out in the burbs, living a mundane normal life, echoes of Squeeze, this is arch, in a rather gentle way.
Higher Stations are where they wanna be, chasing Richard Thompson on the road to Calvary, he hopes we can all find common ground, work together and stop the fighting, one blistering solo at a time, but until they meet again at a Higher Station keep rocking.
The album closes with Live For Today uses a very fender Rhodes piano, taking this classic in nicely frazzled directions, it's not all Sunshine and hope, but well if we Live For Today at least, you'll have good memories when it all falls down. Don't chase that pot of gold, just keep making classy rock & roll albums like this and you will be happy no matter what.
Find out more at https://www.facebook.com/richarddaviesandthedissidents https://richarddaviesthedissidents.bandcamp.com/album/high-times-misdemeanours
