By Jim Rowland
Former Role Models frontman Rich Ragany gained considerable acclaim for 2021’s ‘Beyond Nostalgia & Heartache’ album, and more of the same is set to follow with the release of Rich Ragany & The Digressions’ third album ‘What We Do (To Not Let Go)’, their first for Barrel and Squidger Records.
Canadian by birth and now UK-based, Ragany has assembled a now full-time band, The Digressions, that features musicians with a CV as diverse as Glitterati, Dedwardians, UK Subs, The Men They Couldn’t Hang, The Yo-Yo’s and Role Models themselves to create a sound full of both power and passion and melody and soul in equal measure.
‘What We Do (To Not Let Go)’ and ‘One Last Thing To Prove’ hit the nail on the head with an up-tempo, punchy, punk-infused approach, whilst the likes of ‘You’re My Way Back Home’, ‘Forever Ghosts’, ‘Pretty Breeze’ and ‘One More For The Train’, whilst still packing a punch, sit back and breathe a little more, oozing melody and finely crafted vocal harmonies, with ‘Outro’ and ‘Highgate Sun’ sitting back even further with a folky, acoustic flavour.
The soulful, alt-rock approach of ‘The End Of All Things’, ‘Shade Of Shameless’ and the dreamy ‘Waiting’ work particularly well for me, as does the catchy, hook-laden and powerful ‘Gravity’, a real highlight.
Whilst the oft quoted “Tom Petty meets Johnny Thunders” comparison rings true, for me some of this hints at the likes of other American alt-rock acts with soul and substance like the Afghan Whigs or even Dinosaur Jr just as much. Whatever you want to compare it to, what is undeniable is that the song writing is top notch, the lyrics mean something, the musicianship and vocals are of a very high standard. This is clearly a band to be reckoned with.
- ‘What We Do (To Not Let Go)’ is released on Friday (3 March).
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