Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

Whilst you may never be the same person from heartbeat to heartbeat, the measure of your life is one of a continuous journey tempered by the knowledge that beliefs, opinions and thoughts change, that a person can grow in the light or shrink back into the dusk, what never goes into hiding is the soul of the artist in us all.

We hopefully give all in pursuit of the pinball machine of life’s highest score and if we have to tilt the table in our favour occasionally, then so be it, it is impossible to play the game straight, only the deaf, dumb, and blind kid can do that, for the rest of us, it is easier to stoke the fires of certainty and play the balls with poise, precision and just a little bit of the sideways glance as the table goes Full Tilt Boogie.

Following on from the impressive 2016 E.P. Box of Letters, James Scott Bullard’s Full Tilt Boogie is a renegade of an album, full throttle country but with the heart of the searing rock strewn throughout, a chimera, a creature of two dimensions and breathing fire, whilst at the same time honest enough to know that tilting the table doesn’t always achieve the result you were initially after.

Instead, this creature, stirring, prowling through the country blues and the rock excitement, is unceasingly cool, the brooding demon, in his own words, has given way to the devilish smile, the imp with the dirty mind and the fingers on the pulse of the table’s button, the high scores racking up till finally, and with much applause from those surrounding the machine, the chance to put the player’s name in the best player box becomes available.

The dynamic of two worlds, both from the same original parentage, just a different outlook on life, has perhaps never been clearer, more alert to each other’s particular positivity and at points negative persuasion, Full Tilt Boogie sees songs such as Lord, Have Mercy, Wicked Ways, the sublime and rather fabulous Jesus, Jail, or Texas, Leavin’ On My Mind and Back To You inhale deeply, take in the rush of air that surveys the scene from the deep south and lets go with unnerving majesty.

Full Tilt Boogie is the album that crosses the chimera of context between two heavily armoured beings and comes out from the war like mist carrying roses for the listener to enjoy; peace between factions is always possible when they understand that they complement each other.

Ian D. Hall