Whiskey Go Go's Proud Tales To Them Of Us by: Dean Van Nguyen Mon:18-Jun-07 Label: Warner Year: 2007 WB rating 49 out of 100

Whiskey Go Go’s may be based out of Australia, but musically they come across more Southern Unites States than Louisiana itself. Their debut album Proud Tales to Them of Us was recorded in an attic, and it sounds like it. The acoustic guitars rattle, the drums seem subdued, but despite the technical limitations, this is an enjoyable romp through America’s southern states, seen through the eyes of a well travelled Australian, front man Matt Hutchison.

Call it lazy writing, but it’s virtually impossible to review Whiskey Go Go’s without mentioning Kings of Leon. They share the same dusty, cowbell heavy, blues rock sound, Hutchison’s voice is a dead ringer for Caleb Followill and they, like their American counterparts, are in desperate need for a stylist, right down to the long, greasy hair and dodgy beards. Even the song titles sound like Kings of Leon’s (‘Rodeo’, ‘Kentucky Blues’, ‘Home Chicago’). Of course King’s didn’t invent Southern Rock, but they have been instrumental in popularising it in the last five years or so. Both bands draw from classic blues acts like Muddy Waters, and the more rock oriented seventies bands like Cream and The Groundhogs.

Whiskey Go Go’s may wear their influences for all to see, but it doesn’t take away that this is an album of solid blues songwriting. ‘Red Dress’ is a mostly acoustic ‘woman done me wrong’ blues track, and one of the album’s highlights. But it’s ‘Boy Jewbi’ that shines brightest. The song rides on a killer bass line, complimented at first by a simple drumbeat before being further elevated by a wall of guitar, symbols and Hutchison’s wailing voice. Highlights such as these prove more frustrating than they do fulfilling as they show the band’s glittering potential. The more you listen to Proud Tales to Them of Us, the more you long Hutchison to move out of his comfort zone – perhaps rip into a Led Zeppelin-esqe epic, even.

Instead this is a decent stab at honest blues rock, and the song writing is solid throughout, but Whiskey Go Go’s are sadly a band without an original idea in their head. Their songs hit all the regular points within the genre and by the time the album gets to ‘Hardworking Man’, track number eight, the band have revealed all their tricks. And these tricks are almost all formula-driven rock: chugging guitars and vocals that never stray from the (let’s be honest) confined sounds of the blues. The only reprieve being the occasional accordion thrown in for good measure and the adventurous closing track ‘Johnny Boy’, an attempted folk storytelling ala Johnny Cash (think ‘A Boy Named Sue’ or ‘Tennessee Stud’), but comes across more as parody, like The Beatles’ ‘Rocky Raccoon’ without the personality.

As they are, Whiskey Go Go’s are fun, but they need to grow creatively before they can be taken seriously; to realise their potential and step out of the long shadow of bands like the Kings of Leon.