Tyla J. Pallas
(King Outlaw)
Having already dropped a remake of his band's classic album In the Dynamite Jet Saloon earlier this year, former Dogs D'amour leader Tyla (aka Sean Tyla, aka frontman of Tyla Gang and now inexplicably calling himself Tyla J. Pallas) returns to his thriving solo career with Quinquaginta. Essentially picking up where his last solo record Bloody Hell Fire left off, the elegantly wasted British troubadour eschews agendas and just lays down a dozen songs in his inimitable style, his ravaged growl thrusting itself atop melodies derived from basic three- and four-chord rock & roll.
With his patented mix of swagger and sentimentality, Tyla blasts out rock anthems ("Hang ‘em High," "Just Another Love Song"), croons midtempo ballads ("Armada of Hearts") and serenades the current love of his life ("Alright (I Will Always Love You)," "Bess"). He pays tribute to actor Cary Grant in the chipper "Archie Leach From Bristol" and makes a point about...something in the grim-faced "In the Name." He also graces the album with "Untouchable," one of his absolute best tunes, and one that appears as both a horn-laced pop anthem and an acoustic folk song.
As always with a Tyla record, it ain't perfect, thanks to some awkward lyrics, blatant recycling (the latter-day Dogs D'amour tune "When Bastards Go to Hell" gets an admittedly superior remake) and occasionally overripe singing. But shaving off the flaws of Tyla music would rob it of much of its charm - the man practically comes tattooed with the motto "What you see is what you get." Stained irrevocably by hard living, Tyla embodies the image of a rock & roll outlaw, with more conviction in his little toe than in all the X Factor competitors' bodies combined. No innovation here, admittedly, but why bother when it ain't broke?
DOWNLOAD: "Untouchable," "Archie Leach From Bristol," "Just Another Love Song" MICHAEL TOLAND
