Ronseal Road, do exactly what it says on the tin …
ROSWELL, I meant Roswell Road.
Rebel Joy, the debut album from Americana duo Roswell Road (Jasmine Watkiss and Zoë Wren), fizzes with an ebullient effervescence; a wired, wave-your-arms-in-the-air ecstatic energy drives the opener Holy Mountain and pops up throughout, as in the beepy-poppy synth-rich Back Row, and the wall-of-sound layered multi-vox second half to the light singer/songwritery Let Myself Be Still.
Weirdo At The Party (self-deprecation, obvs, not punching down) opens with filigree picking, less obvious chord progressions and major/minor shifts for a hint of Nursery Crymesque bucolicism, before blossoming via OMDish drums and synth to a swirling dance/trance finale, while Arabella ambles into view dressed in a mando-and-acoustic Faces-meets-Marshal Tucker Band disguise before R&B beats herald another Spectorish lighters in the air anthem (but with hints of banjo and a rare, blink and you’ll miss it, guitar solo!) And there’s another brief burst of pizzicato electric noodling in Out Of The Dark’s (aptly) darker, minor key elegiac pop.
So far, so ‘joyous’... what of rebellion? There’s plenty of agitpop too: not least in Island Citizen, where Crosbyish spacious acoustic chords and bittersweet harmonies transform into a pro-small boats rave banger with added clap-along gospel choir; in Bolder, an appropriately chunky-knit-and-cider shanty, telling the tale - in proper ballad narrative style - of Greenpeace’s anti-trawling marine conservation action of dumping large limestone boulders (get it? Boom-boom!) in the English Channel - with some fine fiery fiddle work to boot; and in the anti-corporate/anti-capitalist/anti-needless consumption hymn of Can’t Take My Soul (the track that impressed Plunger when we heard them perform at Maverick last year), that closes (after a touch of Journey Of The Sorcerer, and more than a touch of The Chain) in a RATM-meets-Roedean defiant, but polite, non-conformist chant.
The album closes with what is probably the most recognisably ‘Americana-y’ track of the ten, the small town paean (or plaint?) of Postcards where the vocal timbres, instrumentation and rhythm all combine for an effective wistful backwoods vibe.
The five years writing and recording Rebel Joy (produced by The Dunwells) were obviously well-spent, as this is an impressive, stimulating (and, yes, joyous and rebellious) debut.
Rebel Joy was released on 13th March, and is available to stream or buy here: https://roswellroadmusic.bandcamp.com/album/rebel-joy
The album launch is tomorrow (yes TOMORROW!) at the Water Rats in Kings Cross, London - other tour dates are listed here: https://www.roswellroadmusic.com/show-dates