It’s a wonder Rich Hopkins finds the time. When not playing with the Sidewinders or the Sand Rubies, he remains the prolific and creative backbone of The Luminarios.
This time around he’s turned the guitars up again for a psychedelic mash of band jams and slow-burning grooves best typified by the brooding, elongated epic, Friend Of The Shooter, which sits well in Hopkins’ canon of storytelling songs. Outta My Head (Outta My Mind) is the flip side to Hopkins’ denser jams with its 60s pop rock feel, while Strutter glides along on a colourful swell of organ with Lisa Novak’s chiming vocals bringing the chorus to life.
It seems churlish to not mention the extra disc (A Long Walk Home) too, a set of field songs from Hopkins’ time spent with the Peace Corps in rural Paraguay, both scratchy demos and studio recordings and all with a charm of their own.
