Album Review: Switchback’s new CD, ‘Ghosts of the River Folk’, WayGood Records
Switchback
Posted On January 20, 2010
Review by Rick Minerd
Writer/ Author/ Former Broadcaster
Switchback’s new CD, Ghosts of the River Folk
WayGood Records
Marty McCormack and Brian FitzGerald have created another collection of amazing songs in their latest package of musical jewels called Ghosts of the River Folk.
I was expecting their very familiar and often raucous Irish blend of folk and pure Celtic Soul, but what I found was ten songs that seem to represent an extension of this amazing duo’s endless ability to be familiar as well as original.
Every piece of music these guys share with their legions of fans sounds as if they got there first, whether it is a well-known ballad or something from their impressive vault of personal creations. The music they make and share, either in live performances or on recorded disc is distinctively theirs and if you’ve ever heard them you know it’s them when you hear it.
But this new CD sounds to me like they have reinvented another good thing. Every cut on this album is similar to the original “Switchback” sound, but to me, and maybe only to me, I can hear something very close to the British sound that changed pop music forever when it first made its way into our culture.
As bold as this sounds even to me, I hear shades of Rubber Soul here. A lot of Marty and Brian’s music takes as much energy to listen to as it might take for them to perform it. Yet this is another pleasant surprise, a collection of songs that is as easy to hear first thing in the morning as it is as I compose this essay about it.
I am listening to it for the second time as I write, and I’m liking it more than the first time. And in addition to what I can only describe as Beatle-esque, I am reminded of many of the other British and American music that I grew up with and later played as a radio disc jockey. Yet every song sounds new, and every song is new.
I cannot call out my favorite on this one. But if Marty and Brian said, “Pick one or we will never come back to Columbus and play for you,” I might say, “Rock Your Heart.” But then I would probably say,”Wait a minute…” It would be that tough, and I remember thinking the same thing about Rubber Soul. See for yourself.
