Graham Day & The Gaolers "Triple Distilled" 2008

I bought this album after hearing "Something About You Girl" on the radio and the band's Myspace page. It's got a great melody line, lyric, and a hook in the chorus that'll makes you want to hear it again and again. Listening to the album, I found twelve more songs as good as that one. These are thirteen great pop / rock compositions, enthusiastically performed in a frantic, raucus niteclub, style...
...I am not familiar with Graham Day, but he's not a kid (see track 1 - "Glad I'm Not Young"). He must have some history in the rock world; the opening vocal lines of "Begging You" are iconic rock and roll. They could have been sung by Gene Vincent in the 50's, Roger Daltrey in the 60's, Iggy Pop in the 70's. I'm not saying this guy belongs in the pantheon of great rock and roll masters -- but I'm wondering why I never heard of him before. These songs are so strong they could have made two or three normal albums for a lesser talent. Here's the formula: dramatic, extended vocal lines, soaring harmonic choruses, wailing guitars, pounding drums and bass, delivered with punk exuberance by a veteran rock singer/songwriter at the top of his game and a tight back up band. Everything works; all the guitar accents and twists are perfect. Each song stands on it's own as an identifiable gem and I've decided on a different favorite after each play. "Pass That Whiskey" with Day on sitar and "Just a Song" provide brief respites from the grungy onslaught, but without slowing the pace. This is one fine rock and roll album.
One criticism: it's not a great production job. The grungy sound mix falls into muddiness on a good audio system. The CD sounded better on my computer speakers than on my hi-fi or even my car stereo. Probably good enough for mp3 though. This material deserved better. Don't let that dissuade you from giving this CD a good listening. - Bob K.
trax:
01 Glad I'm Not Young 02 Better Man 03 Begging You 04 Pass That Whiskey 05 Wanna Smoke 06 Could Be Anywhere 07 Something About You Girl 08 Just A Song 09 If There's One Thing I Can Do 10 Lost Without My Dignity 11 Turning You Down 12 Goodbye 13 The Most Expensive Sleep