Living Tradition CD review of THE BULLY WEE BAND

THE BULLY WEE BAND - Like The Snow
Slaughterhouse Productions SLP010CD

For those of us of a certain age, the Bully Wee Band were stalwarts of the scene in the mid to late 70s, finally folding in 83, and resurrected after a chance meeting some 20 years later. Now comprising two original members and two subsequent veterans, this is the nearest you’re going to get to a classic BWB line-up, as Maartin Allcock is elsewhere engaged these days. And that last point is my only negative thought about this album – the tracks often cry out for a flamboyant guitar solo, or an instrumental break that makes you sit up and pay attention. There are some pretty tight arrangements though, such as the traditional Patsy Fagan and a lovely Colin Reece song, When Mother Says More (featuring Phil Beer on dobro). Scott Skinner’s Laird Of Drumblair is given the Bully Wee treatment, speeding up to a ridiculous speed for a strathspey (and JSS would be turning in his grave to see the title given as The Laird Of Drumblaire).

These minor gripes aside, this is a well-balanced album of what is a closely rehearsed set - or maybe you could say barely half a set as, at 35 minutes in length, this is considerably short of what punters expect for their outlay. I hope their live sets are indeed longer than this.

I do like their take on Steve Earle’s Dixieland and the title song (by Sydney Carter). Jay Ungar’s Wizard Walk jogs along nicely as well, but I do find myself crying out for more – like a whole lot more…

www.bullyweeband.com

Grem Devlin

Buy this CD online from The Listening Post
The Listening Post is the CD mailorder service of The Living Tradition magazine. This album was reviewed in Issue 114 of The Living Tradition magazine.