AmericanaUK

Woodstock air suits one young band

Forget the galaxy of stars the various members of Mechanical Bull have shared a stage with, this is an album that needs no justification or reflected glory.
With a band name like Mechanical Bull you could be forgiven for expecting an album of sawdust strewn, barroom honky tonk, step aside the line dancers are ready.

But this an album born out of Woodstock. Chase Pierson, Avalon Peacock, Adam Widoff, Dave Malachowski, Chris Zaloom, George Quinn, J-Bird Bowman, Josh Pierson and John Medeski followed the inspiration of The Band and holed themselves up in a house only to emerge with A Million Yesterdays fully formed.
Don’t run away with the idea that the members of Mechanical Bull are comparing themselves to such legends - although Malachowski has worked with Garth Hudson – and A Million Yesterdays is not Music From The Big Pink but it has to be said that the Woodstock air has worked its magic again.

Firstly this isn’t a country. Americana or particularly any other genre of album, it’s all of the above and the result makes the result none of them.
On Dreamy Days Avalon Peacock rips the heart out of the song and snaps your soul with its beauty. It alone would cement her place at the top table of torch song singers, male or female, a feeling heightened by the atmosphere she creates on Lukewarm Coffey which hangs in the air like storm clouds ready to burst. Then along comes Chase Pierson grabbing the country rock of Debts by the scruff of the neck, shaking and playing it in the same way a cat does a mouse.

A Million Yesterdays is about the realization of possibilities. A vocalist who growls his way through a song bolstered by a razor sharp riff isn’t new, here it sounds as if it might just be. Mechanical Bull bring a freshness and excitement to what should be very familiar.

When Mechanical Bull do go a little bit country, it’s the mean, dark, deep kind of country, the kind that comes with an inbuilt threat, although the exception that proves the rule is Biggest Nerd In The Class. However even this seemingly light piece of whimsy has a substance and flesh that sets it apart.

A Million Yesterdays is an undeniably powerful album, whether overtly as in the case of Left Turn In Jersey or more opaquely as with Goodbye Woodstock. The emotional contrasts within the album are given by voice by the stark difference between Pierson and Peacock - definitely not two Ps in an ipod .

What A Million Yesterdays shows beyond any doubt is that Mechanical Bull is not an ‘instant band’ just add water for catchy country. There is a real sense of root about the music, it comes from somewhere meaningful and it has heart as well as soul.

Any listener willing to make the effort will be well rewarded by a young band with energy and fresh perspective.

Date review added: Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Reviewer: Michael Mee
Reviewers Rating:

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