Dirty little barroom band

The Fargo Railroad Co. operate out of Sheffield; for what it's worth, and it's pretty well documented around these parts, Sheffield  is one of those cities I find hard not to like. It's neither glamorous nor glitzy, a lot like Fargo Railroad Co., which is precisely why I like it/them. Fargo are touring later in the year - it'll be nice to see them headline a bill; thus far I've only ever see them play second fiddle to, so called, 'bigger' names. 

Their latest album is an absolute belter. Time & Grace¹ (released last year) sees this dirty little barroom band (their words, not mine) come of age. Southern Rock, south Yorkshire style, with a side order of UK Americana makes for a heady mix. Jackie Come On was lifted as a single and sets out clear their intentions from the get go². You'd have to be deaf not to tap yer foot to this. 

Fargo Railroad Company - Jackie Come On 2024)

 

★

1 Whose cover, as you can see at the top of the piece, pays homage to Hopper's Nighthawks; yet another reason to love this album. 

² A recent caller to Johnny Vaughan's 4-7 Thang informed him that her mother says "from the gecko." Which I may well adopt myself.

Noel Gallagher's Wheeltapping Shunters

The EP is dead; long live the EP. Noel Gallagher regularly puts out Extended Plays (the awkward cousin of the album and single) and this year he's releasing three. The title track from his new one (out in a couple of weeks), Black Star Dancing, is up there with anything he's put his name to in the last 10 years. It is obscenely good. And whosever idea it was to shoot the video using archive 70s footage from Wheeltappers and Shunters Social Club - ITV's then Saturday night banker - needs knighting in the next New Year's honours list. Genius.

"Ladies and gentleman, can we have it now for Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds..."

And here Gallagher Snr. tells Johnny Vaughan how the song came about.

Smooth

Depending on your musical persuasion this little bit of tomfoolery will either leave you with a big smile on your face, or you'll be writing a stiffly worded letter to the CEO of Youtube complaining most bitterly that YouTube wasn't made for this sort of thing - "Stick to skateboarding cats and montages of Donald Trump offending all and sundry."
Personally, I adore it. Although I don't have a Metallic bone in my body, the very idea that someone (Andy Rehfeldt) could see beyond Enter Sandman and turn it into a smooth jazz classic is genius. Pure genius. Let's clap it in.

Metallica - Enter Sandman (Smooth Jazz version)

It's driving me insane

The irrepressible Johnny Vaughan has been playing the sh*t out of Kasabian's latest single God Bless This Acid House.  But every time it comes charging out of the speakers, all I can hear is Juke Box Jive by the Rubettes. Seriously. I really think the next time the jesters from Leicester play it on whatever TV show passes for Top of the Pops these days, they should all sport matching white berets; you never know, if could catch on. Well, maybe not in Leicester.
As infectious 45s go, it's almost up there with a cracking little debut single Dean Jackson on BBC Radio Nottingham has had on constant rotation all Summer. 24 Hours a Day by the Shades is a three minute montage of every pop record ever released, from (and including) Rock Around the Clock. Again, when I hear it I can pick out so many nods and winks to classic singles and artists of yore, not least the ghost of Billy Haley whose DNA is still trapped in its rock and roll amber. And it's driving me insane. See what you think:

The Shades: 24 Hours a Day