Here’s a review from Paul Kerr, a UK music reviewer.
http://paulkerr.wordpress.com/
On a different tack Australian Spike Flynn has released his debut album It’s Alright while in his mid fifties. As befits a man of his life experience this is a world weary, knowing and slightly philosophical take on things. Meditating on the blues as on the opening song It’s Aright which clocks in at nearly nine minutes, Flynn is obviously not in a hurry to tell his tales. It’s Alright could have fallen out of an early Tom Wait’s album with its vignettes of small town life and the smoky saxophone that accompanies it. The sax is present also on Silver Nitrate Serenade, another lengthy mood piece with lyrics that catch an emotion and a moment in time so well such as
“the strong black coffee shoots my nerves, full of tin foil and memories and rust, and a mind almost spent checks its change for the rent.”
This is rain drizzled neon lit night music and Flynn captures it again on several other songs on the album including The Pennywhistle Lament. With a voice that at times is similar to Butch Hancock, Flynn also turns in some well written uptempo folk songs, That’s The Way it Goes in particular sounds as if it should be a folk song standard while Falling Rain Blues is similar to latter day Bob Dylan especially on Time out of Mind. All in all this is terrific stuff.
