Jon Langford & Skull Orchard
(Bloodshot)
Jon Langford can call his band Skull Orchard and write ghostly tales about pirates and slaves and instruments of torture ("Pieces Of The Past") all he wants to. But even then or when he's calling phonies to account as in "Flag Of Triumph," there's a likable aspect to the man and his music - no doubt due to the palpable joy he feels in making it - that can't be disguised.
Langford's been credited with bringing folk and country elements into punk, but a main branch of the Americana genre has always incorporated elements of punk. Here, Langford achieves a perfect balance. He combines infectious melodies that sometimes evoke John Lennon ("Luxury;" "Death Valley Day") and substantive, emotive but unsentimental lyrics ("Strange Ways To Win Wars") to make songs that are just so damn catchy despite their subject or style. Langford's done this seamlessly and organically and Old Devils deserves an unhesitatingly emphatic recommendation.
DOWNLOAD: "Pieces Of The Past," "Haunted" RICK ALLEN
