The Red Flags
Hundreds of Sunshine
Folkwit F0012
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Acoustic Americana/country blues from British Duo
There is a current debate raging in literary circles regarding Stef Penny's Costa First Novel Award winning novel The Tenderness of Wolves. The main thrust is that Penny's book is set in Canada and the landscape plays a large part in the narrative. It was subsequently revealed that the author suffers from agoraphobia and has never been to the places so evocatively described in the book. This question can also be applied to Americana. Can someone from Wiltshire produce true authentic alt.country music? On the showing of this album by The Red Flags, the answer is assuredly yes. The Red Flags consist of singer-songwriter Keith Mouland on guitar and harmonica and K.C. O'Shea on upright bass, accordion and occasional piano. I knew nothing of the group when I first played the album, but from the first track Cool Canyon the whole album is so redolent of the West it never entered my mind that this was anything other than a brave new band from the States.
There are some terrific songs on this album, mostly story-songs with the all-American Dead Snake being a stand-out. The two-man set-up inevitably leads to a tight, stripped down sound, but this plays to the album's advantage. Everything about it seems authentic with the songs touching all the alt.country bases. As befits the genre, there are quite a few dark songs such as Bye, Bye Baby and Funeral Song but the mood is lifted by more upbeat tunes such as Johnny Cheese. Regardless of where they come from this is one of the finest, crispest sets of songs I've heard for a while. The only objection I have is that with 15 tracks, listening to just two guys playing laid back acoustic music, however fine, is a lot to listen to in one session.
Kevin Moug