OLLIE VEE – Lonesome Girl (Dang Snapit)

Ollie VeeTaking their name from the Buddy Holly song should point you in the general direction of this Southern Ontario rockabilly trio’s unashamedly retro sound. Add in a dash of the Dwight Yoakam cowboy look and an album sleeve that positively screams Chris Isaak, and you almost don’t even need to put it in the CD player to know what’s coming. Still, if you happen to be a fan of twangy country guitars, upright bass and vocals schooled in the Elvis, Buddy and Orbison (‘Hip Shakin’ Baby’ might have come from Ooby Dooby Sun sessions) textbooks, not to mention tunes that seem to have been plucked from a Southern 60s jukebox, then you’ll be glad you did.

‘Ruby Red’ starts them off on a deceptively slow shuffling two step, singer Jesse Adamson crooning into some starlight desert night before Howard Linscott’s chugging Johnny Cash bassline kicks in on ‘Looking For A Fast Time’, almost certain to attract the attention of any  passing, stray Mavericks fans. There’s a shot of  bootleg tequila to the urgently itchy ‘Party Fools’ with Johnny Vassos’s scurrying reverb guitar notes before ‘Underneath The Sparks’ takes things back to 50s’ rock n roll’s bobby soxer days.

Recorded live from the floor, usually in just one take, the mixture’s pretty much the same for the rest of the album, only one number approaching anything near three and a half minutes, and while my attention somewhat wandered during the ‘New Boots’ instrumental,  personal favourites among the later tracks lining up as the warbling Presley-esque high schooler across the tracks ballad ‘Right Out Of The Picture’, the waltzing title cut and the slow bluesy ‘Bruised’ with its wicked game mood and greasy, honking late night back alley sax. Clearly sharing a great affection for the period, they sound like they’re having a great time, and, whether it happen to be your particular quiff or not, the vibe is definitely catching, daddio.

Mike Davies

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