aaamusic | On 10, Jul 2011

Ben Nicholls’ creature Dennis Hopper Choppers, tribute to the legendary actor and director of Easy Rider, abandons its crazy one –man-band idea to be joined by other musicians and release twelve jewels of folk rock.

Produced by Ben Hillier (Depeche Mode, Blur), Be Ready is a crescendo of folk and desert rock, an irresistible trip to Death Valley in company of Morricone, Nick Cave and Calexico. The devotion to the Italian master is apparent in Girl Walked Out Of Town. The organ and Anthony Rossomandos’ trumpet project the listener in a cinematic experience, broken up only by the mellifluous melody of All That I Once Thought.

The pace of the album slows down, sometimes keeping an aggressive attitude, like with the bluesy My Destiny, somewhere else with melancholy, in the romantic ballad Long Trip Home.

 

Blue is the lament of a fugitive echoing of Johnny Cash and Elvis Preasley. Havoc comes back on the notes of the furious Razor Gang, introducing Number 1, a liturgical litany a la The Doors, interrupted by uproarious distorted guitars.

 

The country of Heart To Dry and the solemn Come To My Party conclude a must-have album for everyone dreaming about a far west where Sergio Leone and Lee Van Cleef are not only vivid dreams.

 

Author: Lorenzo Coretti