It says much about Manchester’s Westside Cowboy that they chose to film the video for opener “Kick Stones (The Boys)” not at Old Trafford — which I know isn’t actually in Manchester before anyone messages — but at FC United of Manchester.
Drummer Paddy Murphy reckons the way the record was made is as important as the music. Bassist Aoife Anson O’Connell explains that although they loved how the song felt when they played it, they couldn’t record it that way because “people would think we wanted to be a stadium rock band.”
They don’t sound like one, but that won’t matter.
The Manchester quartet — completed by Reuben Haycocks and James “Jimmy” Bradbury on guitars, with all four members contributing vocals — have made a debut album that seems certain to propel them towards much bigger rooms.
“Kick Stones (The Boys)” begins with rapid-fire delivery, street poetry and laconic rock ’n’ roll. Let’s just say it, shall we? Beck. Yet the way it builds into a proper crescendo, with O’Connell’s voice taking over, makes it very much their own.
I remember when The Strokes were apparently going to save rock ’n’ roll. “Paper Chains” takes you back to the late 1990s and early 2000s, proving that nothing ever changes but the shoes. Saddle up, though, because Westside Cowboy love a crescendo and there’s another waiting here.
There’s something compelling about It Goes On because you can never second-guess it. On “Dobro”, the guitar does things you simply wouldn’t imagine, while “Well Done Kid, You Did It” offers the wonderfully intriguing line: “If you ever find out what happened to me, hold onto that thought.”
The dual vocals make “Worried Age” equally interesting. “I mean it when I tell you I really couldn’t find the words,” they sing, yet this is an album full of clever ones.
“Big Wheels” begins with a little nod to Dylan, slows the pace and finds some Creedence in its middle, although once again the music feels as though it has come straight from the 1990s. “Pin Up Boys” is short and sharp, but it undulates and revels in its own excess.
Then there’s “Coyote”. Westside Cowboy are quirky, but crucially they’re not self-consciously quirky. They simply seem to exist this way naturally.
“Patchwork” is a more fragile lament, although the discordant piano makes sure it remains slightly weird. There’s no way you’d peg “Take My Leaving As I Love You” as the work of a British band, either. The acoustic guitar does all kinds of strange things while the words insist that “no good comes out of comfort”.
“You Could Have Died There On The Dancefloor” closes the record with the plea, “Please keep me around.” On this evidence, that won’t be a problem.
The band bill this as “young music made by some young(ish) people”. Usually, that would put me off, given that I’m jaded, tired and 50-odd, but there’s something about It Goes On. It is lean, imperfect, unpredictable and absolutely alive.
Quite frankly, it doesn’t matter what any of us say. Westside Cowboy are going to be huge whether they like it or not.
Rating: 8/10
