Album Review: Dirty York - Feed The Fiction

Much is made of Dirty York's sound, 'big old-fashioned rock'n'roll', 'old school rock' etc. (much of this from Dirty York's own camp) but one descriptor that seems strangely absent is 'country', especially as there's no escaping the twang on the group's third album, Feed The Fiction.

The six-piece certainly break out the swagger from the word go with the dual guitar rocker Be Home & Alive. The song certainly serves as a benchmark for the rest of the album – if it isn't to the immediate pleasure of the listener then the record simply isn't for them. It would be difficult to overstress the clear cut nature of this album. Beefy guitars churn out catchy riff after riff, supported by a solid if unremarkable rhythm section and groovy keyboard playfulness. Vocalist Shaun Brown channels every manner of 'classic rock' vocalist, with Humble Pie-era Steve Marriott being a suitable comparison point.

Lyrically, mid-tempo country rocker (a descriptor that could suit nearly every song here) Stiches In My Pocket sums up the tone perhaps better than any other tune, “Feelin' alright, waitin' for rainbows/Man you know she wants it”. Generic, aimless Southern rock lyrics about relaxing and women unfortunately suits the music to a tee.

Feed The Fiction is hardly the old school, old-fashioned rock'n'roll album it would love to be – it's a fairly straightforward country rock album, albeit one done with gusto and real passion from the band. There'll be an audience for this album, no doubt, but even they will struggle to find reason to revisit this more than a handful of times.