There’s an immediate warmth to the music of 49 Winchester, and a timelessness to their songwriting, which suggests this is a band who know exactly who they are. They know what they want to say, too. On “The Window”, there’s a sense that society might be broken, but the music lives on.
That first one is country, then “Bluebird” gets bluesy, and the guitar makes its presence felt. I guess that’s what they’ve always done. They mix country and blues with their Appalachian spirit as well as anyone, and moving between them seems entirely natural.
Produced by Dave Cobb, “Change Of Plans” has Isaac Blaine Gibson at its heart. He writes or co-writes all the original material here, and his voice is one of the band’s great distinguishing features. There’s warmth in it, certainly, but there’s a lot more going on once you settle into these songs.
When I saw them live in Birmingham last year, they played “Changes”. That took some bottle around here. There’s a soul to their version, just as there was when they did it live, which brings something out that Ozzy’s didn’t. In fact, I’d say they probably improved it. Don’t tell anyone, though. I’m supposed to be running a rock website from the West Midlands. There are certain things you aren’t meant to admit.
“All Around Me” is gentle, and “Slowly” is an old-school country hangover song. Which is fine, because however far they wander into the blues and soul, they are still a country band at heart. They sound entirely comfortable with a song that belongs to that long tradition of waking up and dealing with the consequences.
“All Over Again”, though, feels deeply personal. Much of “Change Of Plans” does. There’s a sense of someone working through things as they sing them, and if there’s a catharsis going on here, then there’s something special in the way it reaches the listener. You don’t need to know every detail to feel what these songs mean.
“Oh Savannah” is as timeless as the warm summer sun it evokes. We’ve all got our own Savannah somewhere, which is why songs like this always work. You hear the name and think of someone else entirely. If mine’s reading this, you’ve still got my number.
Then there’s “Bringin’ Home The Bacon”, and you can’t get much more honky-tonk ready than a Bible and a whiskey in the first two lines. It two-steps its way to some proper fun, and after some of the more reflective moments, it’s a pleasure to hear them let loose.
“Pardon Me” underlines their knack for sounding so brilliantly familiar while exploring so much within that sound. You recognise the country, the blues and the soul, but there’s enough character in the singing and playing to keep drawing you back to 49 Winchester themselves.
“Heavy Chevy” ends the record with “Kickin’ this guitar, trying to chase down a dream”, and only a road dog could have written this. It’s glorious, and worthy of their closest contemporaries, Robert Jon & The Wreck. You can hear how much that dream matters, and how much of themselves they’ve put into chasing it.
It means something to me. It means something to all of us. That’s the damn point of 49 Winchester, and that’s why they are quite so good.
Rating: 9/10
