JACKDAW – Ghost In The Big House (Cutthroat 3757-03)

Ghost In The Big HouseJackDaw released Ghost In The Big House in 2023, little fanfare, little push – not unlike their release of the splendid No Cactus in 2019. Reasonably, you may ask yourself why I’m only just reviewing the album. In essence, there were so many positive comments over the past year that this is a national re-release of Ghost In The Big House. Good thing as well.  

What a splendid album this is too. If you’ve clicked the hyperlink above to the folking.com review of the earlier album you’ll have read the unique background to the band. Two songs on this new album, Ghost In The Big House, were written by Wayne Drury, the remainder by Rob Anderson, who is joined this time by Lyle Zimmerman, Gaby Szabo and Charlie Austen.

The style remains a modern take on 70’s West Coast Americana. The result is as smooth, as catchy and as sophisticated a combination as anything you’re likely to hear this year (I know it’s only January but nonetheless ….)

The tracks then. The album opens with ‘Waiting For’. See the media link below (which I only found a couple of days  after I’d written this paragraph. ‘Wating For’ is a song about an old friend / girlfriend / never quite made it to be a girlfriend because she preferred the other bloke and the album title is in the second line of the song. The vocals are as warm as ever; the music is jangly percussion, jangly guitar; the chorus is join-in-catchy; the lyrics tell the tale nicely and are “[Do you] recall a time when a broken heart was just a metaphor” smart.  The album scene is set.

‘Never Hit The Ground’ is joyous and optimistic, a nod to Guy Clarke’s ‘Cape’ in the theme but an entirely different song in the writing and playing. Listen closely to the breakup of ‘Leave Me That’ and it will tear a hole in your heart with its snapshot of images set against a mournful country tune and a Kristofferson-ish gravel.

‘New York Central Line’ is one of the two Wayne Drury songs on the album. It’s the kind of simple American railroad song you instantly know you’re going to want to learn to play in a session because the harmonica player will pick up the vibe, the guitar players will chip in with acoustic lead and everyone in the room will join in the chorus. The other Drury track, ‘Cimmaron Rose’ adds a different feel to the album with a female vocal on a song embedded in the world of homesteads, cowboys, outlaws and the rather deft gem of a line “Ain’t it how the West was sung”.

I’ve written about the first four tracks in some detail as they give a good flavour of the whole album: Americana genre, well written, well played. It’s probably worth mentioning there’s also a sharp humour to some of the songs, closest to the surface in ‘Hiding From Grace’ which has one of the jauntiest tunes – and the most biting lyric.

If you’re a walker, you’ll know the hidden path or valley that is quiet because it’s unknown – but beautiful at any time if the year; if you’re a film buff, you’ll know the small budget film that is many times better than the stuff you’ll see in a multiplex; if you’re a reader, you’ll know the great writings to be found far from the maddening crowd – JackDaw are rather like this.

It’s probably worth concluding with the chorus of ‘Winter of ’62′:

You don’t need to move every mountain
There’s no mystery to hide up your sleeve
Just let your heart ache
For every horse that you break
And you’ll be known by the tracks that you leave

It’s not a surprise that Ghost In The Big House is getting a fresh burst of publicity – there are (displayed rather than left) some lovely tracks on the album for JackDaw to be known by.

Mike Wistow

 Website: https://www.facebook.com/JackDawWDP/?locale=en_GB

‘Waiting For’: