Despite hailing from Great Britain (Wales, to be exact), the 2006 solo release by longtime
Mekons
leader
Jon Langford
,
Gold Brick
, is a prime slice of
Americana
. The twangy strains of
alt-country
sound as if they were straight out of the South of the U.S., but
Langford
's accent is a dead giveaway that this is not your average, or ordinary, release from the aforementioned genre. Although he's issued solo releases on a semi-regular basis since 1995,
's label,
ROIR
, calls
"the proper follow up to 1998's 'Skull Orchard'." And in a way, they're right -- it's an incredibly cohesive and strong set of tunes, in a
Wilco
-meets-
Neil Young
(circa the latter's
Comes a Time
and
Prairie Wind
releases) kind of way. Consisting of
country
-flavored tracks (
"Buy It Now"
), rockers (the album opening
"Little Bit of Help,"
"All Roads Lead Back to Me"
), and symphonic
ballads
(
"Salty Dog"
),
is at the top of his game throughout, as pals from both
the Pine Valley Cosmonauts
the Waco Brothers
lend a hand. The honest-to-goodness
traditional
sounds of
is a much welcomed arrival -- especially in the midst of the early 21st century quagmire of
American Idol
-esque studio enhanced Muzak. ~ Greg Prato