Imelda and her band return with another energetic mix of rockabilly, pop and jazz ; From the opening "Pulling the rug" all the way through to their excellent cover of Tainted love, the album is chock full of songs that worm their way into your skull that you'll be humming for weeks.
The cheeky "Psycho" has a driving sixties-spy vibe complete with growling guitar and howling outro ; "Mayhem" is a tale of a disruptive London couple with a catchy chorus ; "All for You" is an earthy atmospheric ditty that reeks of the bands links with burlesque; "Bury my troubles away" is a wonderfully jazzy-blues foot-tapper, "Let me out" is another catchy tune that just begs a crowd singalong to the chorus....the list goes on.
Highams guitar work drives the tunes along ; Prisemans' trumpet work shines throughout; Al Gare's bass and Rushton's drums make the beat irresistable- one of the bands great strengths is that each is given space to breathe and the overall effect is a delight to the ear. Anyone who has seen the band live will know how amazing they are on stage; they are all excellent musicians at the top of their game.
Is the album perfect ? Not quite.
Where the album's slips slightly (and it *is* only slightly) is that some of the arrangement choices made by the band for the recording seems to have blunted their edge a bit. "Eternity" and "All for you" - both fantastic songs live, and amoungst their best - particularly seem to have lost a little in translation. "Too sad to cry", "I'm alive" and "Kentish town waltz" aren't instant classics, but are decent songs, and do grow on repeated listens.
That said, this remains an excellent and well-paced album, packed with tunes you'll be humming for weeks, and offering alot to both the casual listener and the avid fan. If you've enjoyed her songs on the radio or loved "Love Tattoo", I can heartily recommend this album - the lady doesn't disappoint, and you'll be playing this again and again for many years to come.