BANG Magazine January 2004 ( UK)

Radiotones– Bound to Ride

Inspirations: The Cramps, Deliverance, waking up this morning

A BUNCH of rugged-looking carpet fitters from Perth, Scotland, Radiotones are unlikely to be on the catwalk for the next Prada collection. But, touting as they do a brand of punked-up blues-rock more suited to an evening with Billy Childish than a night at the OXO tower, that was never going to be a problem.

With white men and their ability to sing the blues back on the agenda in this post-White Stripes universe, here, once again, is a pertinent reminder that British people from the Stones through The Groundhogs to the 22-20s, do downmarket backwoods hoedowns as well as anyone.

Sweat, rudimentary and not untroubled by a infectious sense of joy, Bound to Ride hammers swamp-rock clichés into a muddy pulp. By some bizarre accident, singer Dave Arcari’s bluesy growl owes as much to Long John Silver as it does to Big Bill Broonzy, which may possibly add to the fun.

(Three stars out of five – but hilariously carries an extra photo of Radiotones captioned as Puddle of Mudd!).

Karl Lyall