I started work in 1994. I can’t tell you how many lunch breaks were spent in record shops exploring. Picking up things that I still love to this day.
Indeed, I have to be honest here. The format I miss most that the Internet has destroyed is the single.
I can’t explain to you the sheer joy of the B-side. The thing that sometimes bands like The Wildhearts or Silver Sun reserved their best stuff for, or the cover version like The Almighty or Thunder did that made you check out some bands you might not have known otherwise.
This brings me to “Starry Nights And Campfire Lights”.
On one hand, it’s a 25-minute grab bag of stuff released because Chris Shiflett is touring. On the other, it’s a treasure trove because it’s exactly the sort of thing you’d have bought 30 years ago.
The two covers here aren’t new to me. “Cowboy Song” is arguably the greatest song from arguably the greatest hard rock band ever, but it is a version that Shiflett has made his own (you aren’t, ever, going to improve on perfection but you can add pedal steel and honky-tonk solo).
And the other, a really interesting take on Hanoi Rocks’ “Don’t You Ever Leave Me” is even better.
It is my hope that some kid, somewhere will do what I did when hearing those Eddie And The Hot Rods and Small Faces covers, and explore. Finding a lifelong love of the band’s along the way.
The remaining quartet of tunes are live and acoustic versions of tracks off Shiflett’s wonderful “Lost At Sea” record. Released last year, “Overboard” is even better live in the studio, while “Black Top, White Lines” really grooves.
Both of them make me rather excited that I bought a ticket to see him as soon as I heard the album last October, frankly.
The remaining pair, “DamageControl” and “Dead And Gone” are different. From acoustic sessions on Sirus XM, the stripped-down format suits great songs.
Primarily that’s what Chris Shiflett deals in and that would make “Starry Nights And Campfire Lights” great anyway.
The fact it gave me the chance to wallow in nostalgia for 24 minutes was a mere, glorious by-product.
anyway.
The fact it gave me the chance to wallow in nostalgia for 24 minutes was a mere, glorious by-product.
Rating 8.5/10
