When I was transferring this to my MP3 player, the online CD database labelled it "art rock". Live Mr Sartain's songs are stripped down to his voice, guitar and whatever beats he can beat out of the body of his guitar. On record however they are delivered in a soulful tex-mex style so I'm not buying this art rock tag.

Songs such as 'Gun vs Knife' and 'Replacement man' manage to tell stories of love and conflict while still being so toe tappingly catchy you'll find it hard to sit still. It's a collection of mostly timeless rockabilly style songs except when he slows it down for 'The world is gonna break your heart' which is stark and raw it won't break your heart but it'll at least give it a tug. Best song is probably 'Hanger ons' which also contains some the best laughter and use of swearing in a song I've heard in a while. There isn't a weak spot on this album so yes go Join Dan Sartain before Robert Rodriquez uses his music in a movie and you'll be claiming you converted months ago.

Neal Addison

Site - http://www.myspace.com/dansartain

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