By
Kevin McGrath
Submitted On February 06, 2016
Houdini Dax's debut album, the irresistible You Belong to Dax
Darling, was a thrilling kaleidoscope of harmonious sixties pop,
semi-skimmed psychedelica and art-school rock that should, all things
being equal, have made the teenagers household names in the
Principality. Even though the album failed to make its mark, stalling
the group's career in the process, the power-pop trio still seemed a
safe bet to fully realise their 'band most likely to' ambitions. No-one,
back then, could have envisaged the trials and tribulations the group
would have to overcome just to set foot in the recording studio again!
After four years of endless gigging, imaginative fund-raising (playing Christmas Eve concerts in fans homes) and, more latterly, emergency busking (the lads had £10,000 worth of gear stolen from the back of their van in March) the band have, at long last, completed their Herculean task. The £64,000 dollar question, though, has to be asked; was it worth all the back-breaking work, all the heartache and disappointment, all the tilting at windmills along the way?
The opening track "Apple Tree", one of the summer's stand out singles is evidence aplenty that Houdini Dax remains a very special band indeed! A giddy, effervescent number, as slick and superficial as a Preston Sturges screenplay, it would have gone triple platinum in the hands of Marc Bolan or XTC. Sometimes, timing is everything! Next up is "Legs" a big-boned pop song that showcases the band's classy rhythm section - Owen Richards (Bass) and David Newington (drums) as well as singer Jack Butler's acerbic wordsmithery,
'She's my purple power ranger, she's my Lara Croft / She's my Cameron Diaz before the Botox / She's my little Easter bunny, she's my Christmas elf / She's the worst magazine upon the top shelf'.
Butler's grim kitchen sink vignettes are usually leavened with a dollop of black humour, placing him somewhere between Chris Difford and Alex Turner on the British songwriting spectrum. Indeed, "Found Love at the Dole Office" (based on a young couple witnessed getting a little too close for comfort down at the labour exchange) is as comically touching as anything that Squeeze or the Arctic Monkeys ever recorded,
'I went down to the Old Arcade / to break up a coin and sip a lemonade / I saw a girl who misunderstood / She was too good looking for her own good / Found love at the Dole Office / I couldn't get a job, but I got a kiss'.
It's a neat observational piece, a trick Butler repeats on the colourful character study "Good Old-Fashioned Maniac" about a drug damaged go-getter losing his grip on life
"Got more get up and go than the Antiques Roadshow / Travelling from Tiger Bay down to South Bordeaux / Takes five steps forward and five steps back / 'coz he's a good old fashioned maniac".
The harmony drenched "Let's Stick Together" is monstrously catchy, as is the guttural "Get Your Goo On". Long the centrepiece of the band's live show, thanks to its sledgehammer Mickey Spillane riff, it loses nothing in transition to a studio setting. Any momentum lost with the somewhat laborious "All These Days", is quickly regained with the groovy instrumental "Crack Dance". If ever 'International Man of Mystery' Austin Powers' checks himself out of his retirement home for overdressed secret agents this could well be his new theme tune! The rip-roaring "Roll on Up" has the compulsorily addictive chorus we've come to expect from the band, however,the title track proves to be something of a slow-burner, meaning the album does end on rather a low key.
The curious omission of "Our Boy Billy" and "Struggling in the Sand" means the second half of the album tails off slightly. Nevertheless, for the most part this is a spectacular comeback, from arguably the best guitar band in the British Isles. Naughty Nation is an absolute treat - more fun than playing with your shiny new Scalextric on Christmas morning!
After four years of endless gigging, imaginative fund-raising (playing Christmas Eve concerts in fans homes) and, more latterly, emergency busking (the lads had £10,000 worth of gear stolen from the back of their van in March) the band have, at long last, completed their Herculean task. The £64,000 dollar question, though, has to be asked; was it worth all the back-breaking work, all the heartache and disappointment, all the tilting at windmills along the way?
The opening track "Apple Tree", one of the summer's stand out singles is evidence aplenty that Houdini Dax remains a very special band indeed! A giddy, effervescent number, as slick and superficial as a Preston Sturges screenplay, it would have gone triple platinum in the hands of Marc Bolan or XTC. Sometimes, timing is everything! Next up is "Legs" a big-boned pop song that showcases the band's classy rhythm section - Owen Richards (Bass) and David Newington (drums) as well as singer Jack Butler's acerbic wordsmithery,
'She's my purple power ranger, she's my Lara Croft / She's my Cameron Diaz before the Botox / She's my little Easter bunny, she's my Christmas elf / She's the worst magazine upon the top shelf'.
Butler's grim kitchen sink vignettes are usually leavened with a dollop of black humour, placing him somewhere between Chris Difford and Alex Turner on the British songwriting spectrum. Indeed, "Found Love at the Dole Office" (based on a young couple witnessed getting a little too close for comfort down at the labour exchange) is as comically touching as anything that Squeeze or the Arctic Monkeys ever recorded,
'I went down to the Old Arcade / to break up a coin and sip a lemonade / I saw a girl who misunderstood / She was too good looking for her own good / Found love at the Dole Office / I couldn't get a job, but I got a kiss'.
It's a neat observational piece, a trick Butler repeats on the colourful character study "Good Old-Fashioned Maniac" about a drug damaged go-getter losing his grip on life
"Got more get up and go than the Antiques Roadshow / Travelling from Tiger Bay down to South Bordeaux / Takes five steps forward and five steps back / 'coz he's a good old fashioned maniac".
The harmony drenched "Let's Stick Together" is monstrously catchy, as is the guttural "Get Your Goo On". Long the centrepiece of the band's live show, thanks to its sledgehammer Mickey Spillane riff, it loses nothing in transition to a studio setting. Any momentum lost with the somewhat laborious "All These Days", is quickly regained with the groovy instrumental "Crack Dance". If ever 'International Man of Mystery' Austin Powers' checks himself out of his retirement home for overdressed secret agents this could well be his new theme tune! The rip-roaring "Roll on Up" has the compulsorily addictive chorus we've come to expect from the band, however,the title track proves to be something of a slow-burner, meaning the album does end on rather a low key.
The curious omission of "Our Boy Billy" and "Struggling in the Sand" means the second half of the album tails off slightly. Nevertheless, for the most part this is a spectacular comeback, from arguably the best guitar band in the British Isles. Naughty Nation is an absolute treat - more fun than playing with your shiny new Scalextric on Christmas morning!
Easily the best guitar band in Wales, probably the best in Britain, and, on their day the best in the galaxy!
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