Eiranicana for discerning music fans
Lucky Bones are a four piece band based around Dubliner Eamonn O’Conner who cites Dylan, Waits, Springsteen and Van Zandt as influences; but then again so do thousands of others; so, thankfully the graffiti and street-art inspired artwork of the album cover caught my eye; and I’m glad it did.
O’Conner’s voice is a cool fusion of Irish and mid-Atlantic giving his intelligently written songs an authenticity that few of his peers can match on this fusion of Americana and what we used to call Celtic Rock.
It’s rare for an album to open with a song as restrained yet so powerful as She Don’t Know and it really sets the mood for an album full of songs to make you think as well as simply enjoy.
In She Don’t Know the narrator tells us about a woman who has ‘had enough of Country Life/wanted to be more than just a wife’ and packs her bags and leaves for the bright lights of the city. As you’d expect; this dark tale doesn’t have a happy ending but the story is exceptionally well written.
While Lucky Bones revolves around singer O’Conner; the sound that the band creates has echoes of the Deadstring Brothers, Buffalo Springfield and even the rockier end of Ryan Adams early material; which are all cool boxes to tick.
Title track Someone’s Son opens with a delicious understated guitar solo before O’Conner sounds as if he could burst into tears before each or any line will finish on a real brooding heartbreaker of a song about a boy terrified of seeing his lost love with another man.
Born to a Holy Land is a delicately political song about the reasons behind World Powers arming ‘freedom fighters’ who in turn use the weapons to fight ‘our boys’ in TV screens and magazines. It’s certainly thought provoking and O’Grady and Kennedy’s guitar playing put me in mind of The Edge and even Neil Young at their angriest.
SOMEONE’S SON is a rare treat, with intelligent lyrics and stories blending with both Americana and Irish melodies to create an album that stands out in a very crowded room.
Released 8th July 2013
http://www.rhapsody.com/artist/lucky-bones/album/someones-son
The Rocking Magpie 