Night Without End

The divergence between the rock and country press is interesting. For instance, John Wayne Army have variously been described by the rock scribes as “rockabilly trash merchants” and “deadbeat country”, though I doubt that the straight country press would understand what those labels mean. Mentions of Gallon Drunk and Pogues would be closer to the truth however; there is a particularly English slant at work here, to which I would add my own suggestion of The Only Ones as a reference point.

Either way, this is an enjoyable album. The songs, by frontman Al Newton, deal with revenge and

betrayal in a fuzzed-out, slightly garage/ roots/twang kind of way, though the hidden title track at the end of the CD takes an entirely different tangent. Otherwise, the fifteen named tracks all fit the overall theme of sleazy love songs that owe more than a passing nod to Memphis in the late ’50s.

Newton is counterbalanced on vocals by the more angelic voice of Sam Ireland, and this male/female axis works well in giving the songs an added texture.

John Wayne Army have something of the swagger of the man himself and there’s plenty of sharpshooting on Night Without End.