Mr Derry
Dirty Line Dancing LP
The EPs title, ‘Dirty Line Dancing’, brings to mind a dodgy sequel with Jennifer Grey uncovering an underground scene of sexy country music, saving the life of a cowgirl that had a cheap abortion and, eventually, doing a perfect dosi-doe for the grand finale.
Mr Derry, thankfully, aren’t in the business of supplying the soundtrack to my movie-fantasy and have opted instead to kick out six tracks with a rawness and spark that earned them a place in the ‘Road to V’ finals.
This record actually builds its way up to the really cracking material, starting off ‘alright’ but ending up much more grounded in some cracking mid twentieth century musical references.
For me, things really take off half-way though the EP. There’s nothing wrong with the opening triplet, ‘Graveyard Song’ in particular being rather good. The thing is, it gets a whole load better.
‘Millie Dog’ harks back to the 60s with it’s stomp beat and stripped down instrumentation. You would be forgiven for thinking that this was an obscure Rolling Stones b-side if it wasn’t for Joni Coyne’s vocal, which crackles with personality in this song.
Paul McCartney’s guitar-based writing for The Beatles is definitely the best comparison for the verse of ‘Old Man Richie’, but with a chorus that grinds and shakes like The Strokes.
‘Fire’ rock ‘n’ rolls the end of the record and convinces me that these chaps put these songs in some contrived order to keep expectations low at the start and impress listeners more and more with each track.
This EP is worth owning just for ‘Millie Dog’, but if you have any inclination towards some re-moulding of sixties rock and roll with plenty of shake, this is an ideal recording.
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Written by Fenton on
