By DJ Monk
Now and again an album comes around that takes you right back into the mists of time, wrapping you in its warm embrace of familiarity as it reminds you why you fell in love with this glorious, hoary (whorey?) artform we call rock ‘n’f’n’ roll in the first place… This, the first solo album from renowned guitar-slinger for hire Richard Davies – perhaps best known to regular ÜR readers for his stints in back alley strutters such as The Snakes and Tiny Monroe – is just such an exemplar…
It’s taken Davies a while to step into the solo spotlight – something he has done with the help of old friends and previous collaborators such as Tim Emery and Chris Cannon – but the wait definitely has been worth standing in the rockin’ supermarket queue, as ‘Human Traffic’ is one of the coolest slices of jive you will hear this year.
Referencing almost everyone from Dylan, Mott and The Heartbreakers (of both the Petty and Thunders varieties) through Neil Young and The Black Crowes to power pop pioneers such as The Only Ones (perhaps not surprising given Davies’ former associations with Peter Perrett), ‘Human Traffic’ is a feelgood album delivered exactly when we need a feelgood album, emerging us from the darkness of lockdown into the sunshine of goodtime summertime poptasticness.
Packed to the brim with surefire singalong hits such as the Shaker standard ‘Lay Me Down’, the Bolan-reminiscent ’21st Century Man’ and the rambunctious ‘Heartbeat Smile’, ‘Human Traffic’ is a joyous album from beginning to end. There are no down moments. Just ten songs and 35 minutes of beautiful, uplifting rock ‘n’ roll, played from the heart and delivered with the soul of true believers. It is the sort of rock ‘n’ roll that can’t help but put a smile on your face, a tap in your toe, a happy hop in your cowboy-booted stride and a beer down your throat as you come back for more, time and again. A brilliant debut, and a terrific statement of intent from an artist finally stepping into the spotlight in his own right. And, yes, I will come back to it time and again… feck, I’ve practically worn the disc out already!
- ‘Human Traffic’ is out now. You can get your copy HERE.
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