Here's a review of Some Tunes For Charlie Spencer the new Case Hardin record.
"On first hearing Charlie Spencer registers undeniably as a superior Americana album. Case Hardin, based around the pairing of Del Skinner and singer-songwriter Pete Gow and augmented by former Cotton Mather drummer Dana Myzer, deliver a batch of well-crafted songs very much in the lineage of Steve Earle and Jay Farrar. There’s a deal of twang, of steel, and on one track, some very nice fiddle. For these reasons alone it’s worth seeking out.
On closer examination it proves more; a finely-wrought writer’s album. Gow is a journalist who has spent a lot of time recently in Iraq, and he clearly has both the writer’s eye for detail and an assured capacity to juggle words and meanings. Knowing titles like ‘Three For The Road’, ‘Sweethearts Of The Radio’, and ‘Dead Lines’, plus a host of lyrics referencing the creative process, demonstrate his acuity.
This is in no way pretentious. It’s not trumpeted, it’s just waiting there to be found. The songs, especially the ‘Tune For Charlie Spencer’ with a gorgeous vocal contribution from Sophia Marshall, in themselves provide more than ample reward, but Gow here has certainly given notice of a singular talent, and there must be more to come."
Released on Ugly Nephew
