where there's smoke
Reviewed by: Phil Catley
Published: 10 March 2011
lp: self titled
On the CD cover is a photograph of a lone guitarist, cast in semi-darkness with his country check shirt, Fender Telecaster and a buckled old Billy-Bob hat. This clearly stakes out the musical genre as some kind of Country, but all Country ain’t Country no more. Like the Labor Party with its millionaire celebrities and ex-wharfies, the Country Music genre has broadened and now ranges from the syrupy commercial sickness of the Lee Kernaghan’s, to the corny the Good Old Boys to the grating dust bowl rock of Son Volt and the like.
Where There’s Smoke… is a five piece Alt Country band, no corn, just good listening songs; two guitars, keyboard, bass and drums, and some harmonica thrown in to add colour.
Matt Ward has a distinctive voice which would have suited many of the punk-ska bands I used to see in the early 1980s, but it also fits perfectly into the pocket created by the Where There’s Smoke… rhythm section.
The three opening tracks are rolling upbeat country tunes, along the lines of our own Paul Kelly, and they provide a nice foot-stomping introduction to the band. For this reviewer “Opal Inn” is the pick of the tunes with its simple but infectious chorus, a nifty bridge, and a middle eight that just rattles around your brain for days. I couldn’t get it out of my head, and didn’t really want to either. The opening track “Red Church” is also a head-catcher, and “Kiss in the Rain” isn’t far behind it.
“Cowboy Shirt” thumbs its nose at the Johnny-cum-lately would-be country music devotees who have jumped on the bandwagon of the latest musical trend. This is the kind of irreverent mockery that Skyhooks built a career on, and it’s a great Australian tradition adopted by bands who are genuine but don’t take themselves too seriously.
The ballads “Something about the Weather” and “Desert Rose” round out the album showing that Where There’s Smoke… can produce a nice slow number too.
If you like your alt country music (like me) you will like this release from Where There’s Smoke… I know I do.
