BANDS:

Punk & Ska
80's New Wave/
Post-Punk/
College Bands
90's & Beyond
Virginia, North
Carolina, & DC

Cowboys International: The Backwards Life of Romeo
[Pnuma]

If you find yourself at a record store looking at a new release by a band called Cowboys International, you have two choices:

1. Pick up the disc and quickly place it back because you tell yourself that a six-year-old could have designed the cover.

2. You pause your maniacal flipping of discs heard twelve rows over and say to yourself, Could it be? No it cannot be, butit is.

If you would act in accordance with scenario number 2, then it is likely that you are in your 40s and you have fond memories for the later part of the 1970s. Those sure were some interesting times, but now you can revisit them without the danger of appearing too nostalgic. One thing is certain: if you can remember Cowboy Internationals debut Original Sin, then you were the late 1970s equivalent of a pitchforkmedia.com reader. Recognizing that every hipster on the planet has a newfound love for bands such as The Clash and Public Image Ltd., Ken Lockie decided to reform his dormant brainchild. At a time when teens and twenty-somethings are rediscovering the music of luminaries such as Brian Eno, a new record from Cowboys International seems fitting to us as well. The albums greatest strength is Lockies willingness to implement more recent methods of electronic music-making, most notably midi drums, synthesis and fx. Tracks such as Silent Sky and Imaginary Number actually bare a faint resemblance to the works of artists who Lockie probably influenced during the bands heyday. These artists include, but are not limited to, Moby, Fatboy Slim and Primal Scream. Songs like Escape and the Strokes-ish title track have a retro sound, but the feeling is au courant if you have faith in the idea of simultaneously being a predecessor and a successor. One track that was troubling for me was Hold on Me, whose beginning verses sound a bit too much like Dave Gahan. Lockies credibility ultimately takes a stronghold over these mixed feelings, and it is clear that his unbridled emotions need not be restrained by ones personal interpretation of rock n rolls history.

This album can be purchased at Amazon and CD Universe

Cowboys International Official Website

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