If you call your new record that and only the Rolling Stones have been working longer, the question, inevitably, is: er... can you still get it up? From no-holds-barred stomper Identical to the reflective acoustic ballad Wanted By Women, the 14-song answer is unequivocal.
Barry Hay’s unmistakable vocals wrap lovingly around George Kooymans’ guitar like a treasured leather jacket in a relationship that echoes Tom Petty and Mike Campbell’s, and delivers contemporary rock’n’roll just as varied.
With erstwhile Stones producer Chris Kimsey at the desk, this continues the pattern of Earring’s studio output since 1975: circa four minute tunes driven by the telepathic interaction of bassist Rinus Gerritsen and drummer Cesar Zuiderwijk.
This time, though, there’s a twist – loads of slide guitar courtesy of Frank Carillo. Carillo is the American booked to support Zeppelin on the cancelled 1978 US tour who has played on albums by Peter Frampton, Joan Jett, Carly Simon etc.
He guested on the band’s previous album, Millbrook USA, nine years back and here graces all but one song, polishing trademark rockers Little Time Bomb and Still Got The Keys To My First Cadillac as well as the gentler likes of What Do I Know About Love and This Love (both featuring Kooymans’ trademark tremulous vocals).
