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for a friend to kick the habit on ‘The Damn Cocaine’ whilst ‘The Murder’ has that Fabulous
Thunderbirds vibe.

Josh Fulero features once again on harmonica on the instrumental ‘The Asymptomatics’. ‘Hel-
lo Friendo’ is another instrumental in the style of a New Orleans rhumba. My favourite track
on the album is ‘Why Did You Go’ which has a nice syncopated easy going feel to it. The album
closes with the spoken word blues jam ‘Bluesoned’.

The album is produced by Anson Funderburgh and he describes the album as “Chicago West
Side Modern Blues”. I’m not quite sure about this album, whilst there is nothing wrong with
the musicianship as such there is nothing new or original and after fourteen tracks I did feel
that things were starting to drag. Although I’m a fan of Anson Funderburgh as a guitarist I just
can’t quite see how he is adding value here. As I always say, don’t let me put you off, give it a
try and see what you think.

Ged Wilson

Rob Heron & The Tea Pad Orchestra—The Party’s Over—
Tea Pad Recordings

Rob Heron & The Tea Pad Orchestra are a five piece band
based in Newcastle UK and “The Party’s Over” is their fifth
album.

‘Go Home (The Party’s Over)’ is a great opener. It’s a good old
time drinking song and features some nice acoustic cupped
style harmonica from Tom Cronin. ‘My Salad Days’ features a
touch of yodelling no less, whilst ‘Snip Snap Snout’ has a
bouncy zydeco feel, so much fun with just two chords!

‘The Horse That You Rode In On’ is going to make you smile with inevitable hints of ‘Ghost
Riders’ and ‘Mule Train’. There is a nice sax break in ‘Remind Me Tomorrow’ almost border-
ing on ‘Twisting The Night Away’ whilst ‘Right To Roam’ is a nice country cowboy tune with
some more of that lovely cupped harmonica. The album closes with ‘The Doctor Told Me’ a

trad jazz style good time tune that brought to mind the late great George Melly.

This album is so easy on the ears and so much fun. Rob Heron has a great voice that suits this
genre and his clear diction really gets you into the lyrics. The lyrics are mainly light hearted
fun but at times carry a poignant message. These guys are hard to pigeonhole, there’s West-
ern swing, Americana, Jazz and Blues all going on in there. Anybody who was around the
north west of England in the 1990’s will remember a band called the Winchesters who were
similar in style and built up a large cult following and I suspect that’s what will happen with
these guys too. This is an album irrespective of pigeonholing that will have wide appeal be-
cause it’s such good fun so please give it a spin.

Ged Wilson