Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *
Do we ever really contemplate what it would mean to witness our final experience of dusk, that The Last Sundown we see with our own eyes is not one of mystery, of appreciating the majesty of the Universe, of even hoping to observe one final emergence of what was once considered a god peek over the horizon, but one that is shrouded by a shrug of indifference as we assume that all we have will be repeated the next day, and the one after that for time immemorial.
We expect so little to change, to alter, that often we can be accused of missing out of the fabulously enlightening and the dream of persuasion, the last party where the sun is lauded and human effort is acknowledged finds itself removed from our sight, and in the end, we become as blind to the experience as those that reside in permanent night.
Chris Wragg and Greg Copeland lead the way, they refuse vigorously to be cowed by the darkness, and instead pay homage to all that is light in their utterly compelling and insistent new recording, The Last Sundown.
This is an album of ferocity, of piercing observation and unrepentant drama, each track is given the freedom to damn and behold, and as the listener is held still, forced by a will of sublime comprehension to watch as the sun of insight slowly lowers beyond the horizon, they are informed that the spectacle can be repeated, that they need to pay attention to more than just the introspection of their life as a spectator, they need to be the mindful witness, they need to feel every ray of life affirming moments before it is too late.
From the outset of Alabama Train, the intention is clear, this album is ready to kick out, to hound, to educate, to deny the slow burn of meaninglessness and instead promote with unbridled passion a sense of duty, and as tracks such as the superb Don’t Let The Devil Drive, House Burned Down, Can’t Shake These Blues, 1964, and the brilliant Miss Ruby all lead in a chorus of determined battle for the soul and righteous belief of the listener, each one succeeds in a way that is positive, full of charge and strength, but which also has the ability to suggest to the one with the tear in their eye as they see dying god leave them one last time, that their sorrow of all that humanity has damaged can be forgiven through their regret.
An absolutely thrilling recording, an album that would not be out of place in the pantheon of greats of those who walked in the sunlight before them, simply top notch.
Ian D. Hall