The Faraway Boys New CD Reviewed

Happy Thursday everyone.

Last week I was lucky enough to interview SoCal’s Psychobilly kings, The Rocketz shortly before their gig at The Fire Escape in Citrus Heights. Just before the gig I met up with Ralphie, The Faraway Boys’ Bass-Slapper who was standing in for The Rocketz’ Tony Marcias, who has since moved on.

Ralphie handed me a copy of their debut CD, “Pirate Ship Set Sail”

The Faraway Boys are probably best known for their music being used in a Sailor Jerry Run commercial.

To give you an idea of what the Faraway Boys are all bout, here’s a video clip of them in action:

First thing that strikes you when you open the package up is the actual CD itself. I’ve been buying CDs for many years and vinyl records for many, many years before that.  I have never, until I unwrapped the Faraway Boys’ CD seen a hybrid of both. It’s the Toyota Prius of CDs. It’s black and has little grooves and a really cool retro “record label” on the top side, just like a real record. Kudos have to go to their designer for the original and innovative design.

The CD opens up quite innocuously with a nice instrumental track called “Por Vida.” It starts out with some very latin-flavored bass chords, then rips into a high-octane rockabilly guitar.

The Next track: “Skin & Bones” is your first introduction to Scotty’s vocals. From the first line you’re reminded of Roy Orbison’s Sun years, but with more than a hint of Rev Horton Heat. The highlight of the track is Ralphie’s slapping, which is superb throught.

“Cowboy Moon” is a nice straight Rockabilly track with a Scotty’s vocals being beautifully complimented by female harmonies. The only thing that mares it slightly for me was the accordion solo, which makes it feel  a little bit country, bordering on Zydeco. However, credit to the band for experimenting and not making every track sound the same.

“Fear The One” is back to some full throttle Rockabilly with a driving bass line and excellent, short guitar solo from Scotty.

“Doing Time in Hell” has a great crescendoing intro with Slap bass, then drums, then guitar riff building to a great little intro that itself builds into the crashing chorus. Along with plaintive vocals of the verses make a nice contrast for a track that is possibly the weakest song on the CD, but is still and very cool Rockabilly song.

“Sailor Jerry Rum” has another great crescendoing intro that builds to a driving rhythm. There is something very reminiscent of Link Ray’s guitar work on it and just great lyrics. The accordion isn’t as overstated on this track and simply blends into the background at the very beginning. Possibly my highlight of the CD with a wonderful slap bass solo about 3 and a half minutes into the track. The final chorus is great to sing along to.

The next rack “Situations Change” really underlines the diversity of The Runawaboys’ reprtoire. It’s a moody, ambient track with a reggea-esque lead-in. The rockabilly soon kicks in and normal service is resumed.

“Vampire” has no pretensions of being anything else. Right from the get-go it kicks into high gear and just keeps going.  The band’s Stray Cat influences show through heavily on this track. Up to this track Bucky had done just what drummers are meant to do, sit in the back and keep the beat, but in this track he’s brought to the fore and does a great job of keeping this one going and making it interesting.

“Misfortune One” has a much heavier guitar than other tracks, with the possible exception of “Sailor Jerry Rum.”  Scotty’s vocals shine through too varying between his lilting, melodic style with some raucous, gravelly stuff that gives this track a nice balance.

They close the album with a song called “Make it to Bed” which when I first heard the drum intro, I thought was Hank Mizell’s Jungle Rock. I’m sure this is a total coincidence, right guys? It’s a nice way to finish off a very well-rounded debut.

Overall, I think they guys did a great job and I’m pretty sure it’ll be the first of many releases to come.

If you want to catch the guys live check them out in Mesa, Arizona on May 25th, where, once again, they’ll be playing alongside The Rocketz.

You can also check out their website http://www.myspace.com/farawayboys

Keep rockin’

Al E. Cat

www.RockabillyHQ.com