Answer, The: Sundowners

Thundering into view with a blues authenticity and authority that not even they quite managed before, The Answer give us the title track to Sundowners by way of a reintroduction after 7 years away. Sliding guitars, calling vocals and a thumping beat wash over you in waves and immediately inform you that this band are back, as ever they were, and yet different. There seems to be no pretensions here, much less bravado than the band’s more blues-rock beginnings hinted at. “Blood Brothers� pops up next, cowbell exploding during a chorus that reveals that singer Cormac Neeson has tales to tell and the words to hook your interest. With a humming organ howl in the background, while this is The Answer, it’s maybe The Answer as the grown ups they’ve become.

Yes, Sundowners stomps and yes it has fist in the air sing alongs, but they seem to happen along the way as guitarist Paul Mahon grinds the gears on his fretboard. With “California Rust� howling with the melodic goodness but gritty underbelly that screams ‘hit’, the only thing stopping The Answer from getting more recognition is the UK’s stubborn refusal to acknowledge that anyone with a guitar should be over the age of 21 and, god forbid, know how to fucking well rock. And that’s maybe my own personal sticking point here, because what The Answer have come up with by way of their comeback has, to me, a knowingness about it that I don’t readily connect with. Commercial this is not, and yet, I can’t quite shake off that some of the tracks here - “Cold Heart� for instance - have that kind of not quite believable believability about them, with a ‘woohooooo’ section and the following ‘blow my cold heart away’ line feeling a touch contrived. It’s an assessment, as you look around, that I seem pretty much isolated with, so the issues are maybe what I bring to this album more than what The Answer have. And yet, I can’t quite help but wish that there was a more up and at ‘em attack from time to time on Sundowners, but maybe that’s just me.

With a mixture of short back and sides, or long grey hair, The Answer are not afraid to show their maturity here and neither should they. Sundowners is a really good album, but maybe I wasn’t just quite as ready for this band to grow up as they (and nearly everyone else) has been.

Track Listing
1. Sundowners
2. Blood Brother
3. California Rust
4. Want You To Love Me
5. Oh Cherry
6. No Salvation
7. Cold Heart
8. All Together
9. Livin’ On The Line
10. Get Back On It
11. Always Alright

Added: March 24th 2023
Reviewer: Steven Reid
Score:
Related Link: The Answer online
Hits: 787
Language: english

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