Most Ugly Child - Copper and Lace

by Nicky Crewe

published: 25 / 2 / 2017

Label: Most Ugly Child
Format: CD

Authentic and exciting combination of the traditional and the modern from Nottingham-based Americana act, the Most Ugly Child

Review

Following on from their 2014 debut EP, 'A Wicked Wind Blows', the Most Ugly Child release their first full length album. Based in Nottingham, the band includes singers and songwriters Daniel Wright and Stevie-Leigh Goodison, rhythm section Matt Cutler and Max Johnson (The Broom Hill String Band), Nicole J Terry (The Rip-Roaring Success) on fiddle and ‘Big’ Jim Widdop (The Sadies, Los Pacominos) on pedal steel and dobro. They have been building a well-deserved following locally and nationally, sharing their interpretation of the rich world of country and Americana music through live appearances. They have created their own sound, blending influences that include traditional country artists such as George Jones and Hank Williams, with more contemporary inspiration from Townes Van Zandt and Tom Waits. They represent the best of a country music revival in the UK, neither pastiche or imitation, but something authentic and exciting. The songs on the album have been written by members of the band, Daniel Wright and Stevie-Leigh Goodison, with the exception of a cover of Townes Van Zandt’s ‘Lungs’ and friend Daniel Meade’s ‘What Might Have Been’. The album kicks off in style with ‘What Might Have Been’, with its upbeat honky tonk treatment of a perennial country theme, full of regrets and possibilities and some very clever lyrics - "I could have been a credit to myself, instead I chose disgrace." Introducing us to the band, and the combination of the two lead singers’ voices, it sets the tone for the rest of the album. We enter a world of lost love and broken promises, faded roses and empty whisky bottles, old wedding photos, high hopes and low consequences, all the traditional themes of authentic country music expressed with fresh voices, great songwriting and impressive musicianship. After the upbeat first two tracks, things get poignant with Daniel Wright’s ‘Roses’, and the heartfelt heartbreak of ‘Just Another Lesson in Pain’. ‘Today You Said Goodbye’ combines Daniel and Stevie-Leigh’s vocals beautifully in time honoured country style. There’s something familiar and yet fresh about ‘The Bottle and the Fall’ and it really works. ‘Queen of the Honky Tonk’ takes us into the desperate world of bars peopled with bad men and better women. ‘My Pony’ is the last track and it’s intriguing. There’s a long tradition of writing about faithful dogs and beloved horses in American country music, but the lyrics of this song made me think of the pit ponies, part of the lost world of coal mines and abandoned communities in the band’s home land of the Midlands. It seems a perfect blend of country music traditions, reflecting the influences that have travelled back and forth across the Atlantic through the twentieth century and into this ever relevant genre of contemporary music.

Track Listing:-

1 What Might Have Been
2 Golden Gates
3 Roses
4 Paper, Linen, Copper, Lace
5 Lungs
6 Just Another Lesson in Pain
7 Long Gone Woman Blues
8 Today, You Said Goodbye
9 The Bottle and the Fall
10 Those Were the Days
11 Queen of the Honky Tonk
12 My Pony