Stoner Paisley Underground type tunes from California.
Based way out on the west coast of the USA, Tramp for the Lord are, according to their bio, a loose group of musicians who’ve assembled to do service to the songs of former bass player of 80’s band The Hangmen, Doug Cox. The songs leading to this debut release seem to have had a long gestation period, starting back in 2012 when the band got its name from a Corrie ten Boom novel.
“Loose” is indeed a word that might be given, not just to the aggregation and permanence of the line-up but also to the musical style. Opener Out There harks back to early Green on Red with shuffling blues jamming based around Alejandro Escovedo-toned vocals and second track Satan’s Sun continues in a similar vein of bleak, desert noir – one for the stoned/stoner fans out there.
Oh Pete is a (maybe too) similarly paced excursion with Chuck Prophet type twang before Beer Girls tells an early Paisley Underground (in style) tale of nightlife – it’d fit perfectly on the first Danny & Dusty album. The pace remains somewhat the same on Another Day which is given little more sonic variety with bar-room piano and tambourine.
The intriguingly named Don Piso occupies Alejandro Escovedo territory once more, albeit with a greater degree of heat exhaustion in the room. Cowboys Cry and Rosie & Me occupy similar bar-room territory too, although the latter does utilise a little more sprightly drumming and shimmering rhythm guitar.
Last Star on the Boulevard doesn’t really go anywhere different – there’s a rambling narrative exposition over a couple of chugged chords – chilled stoner heaven, but maybe not to mainstream taste. Slaughterhouse of Love adds a bit more vocal reverb and space to the sound prior to the closing Paper Sky (Song for Bacchus) with its gently shambling and somewhat relaxed playing.
All in all, if you’re a fan of the aforementioned Painsley Underground, this might be to your taste, but a lack of variety and pacing probably keep it in a cult corner.
