Accomplished 3rd album from Brummie Americana hotshots The Lost Notes – ten new songs that tell tales of the wary, the loved, the wild and the lost.

Release Date:  20^th September 2024

Label: Self Release

Formats: CD / Digital

The Lost Chords are: Ben Mills (vocals, guitar, harmonica, trumpet and keyboards), Oil Jobes (vocals, lead guitar, ukelele), Lucy Mills (vocals), Steve Vantsis (bass) and Max Tomlinson (drums and percussion).  Ben and OIi are the band’s main songwriters – between them, they wrote every song on Good Luck Shoes.  Oli is a folkie at heart, whilst Ben’s tastes lean more towards jazz and the pair’s tastes are reflected very much in the band’s musical styles. 

They tell a good story, too, and, along with the aforementioned vocal harmonies, the thing about Good Luck Shoes that leaves the most lasting impression is the detail in Ben’s and Oli’s lyrics. 

STRETCHING AMERICANA

The last time Birmingham Americana genre-stretchers The Lost Notes crossed the At The Barrier radar was probably at last year’s Beardy Folk Festival in Cleobury Mortimer, when Jen, our correspondent, copped an earful of their eclectic blend of Americana, folk and country (laced, for good measure, with soul, gospel and jazz) as she dashed for shelter as the heavens opened.  And now, here they are again, with Good Luck Shoes, a new album that, once more, demonstrates just how satisfyingly far the elastic boundaries of the thing we know as Americana can be stretched.  And it’s all done with sumptuous three-part vocal harmonies that would make even a Beach Boy sit up and take notice.

To quote the authors: “In a nutshell, Good Luck Shoes features ten new songs spotlighting tales of the wary, the hopeful, the loved and the loveable; the wild and the lost, the unhinged and the crossed.  The fixed up, the torn down, the hoe-downs and throw-downs, topped by the musings of a deliriously optimistic psychopath with a death wish.  Simple!”

RICH, GENTLE AND PERFECTLY BALANCED

And those stories are each wrapped in a gilded coating of rich, gentle and perfectly-balanced music in which acoustic guitars, bass and drums all play a starring role, with no single instrument overstaying its welcome.  Good Luck Shoes is a polished, highly accomplished album, performed by a band of polished, highly accomplished musicians.

The tight vocal harmonies are there from the start, as “Sweet soft words shimmer like gold” in opening track, Don’t Try It on Me.  The sound is rich and clean and charmingly easy on the ear.  Steve’s solid bass turns the gentle Run Like a River into something of a stomper; the deftly-picked acoustic guitars bring The Doobie Brothers to mind, but, then again, The Doobies never had a Lucy Mills within their ranks…

And Lucy shows just what she’s capable of as she delivers a stunningly beautiful vocal for Mine Is The Heart.  There are shades of Karen Carpenter as her tone switches effortlessly between injured vulnerability and strident confidence; the soft acoustic guitars and resonant bass are all the accompaniment required – this song is all about the vocals.  Next, Ben reworks the story from Carl Perkins’ Daddy Sang Bass for the contemplative reflections of No Place Like Home, a delightfully reassuring song that manages to pack a whole load of sentiment into a single line: “You could be anywhere in this world – there’s no place like home.”

The exemplary production standards that are such a feature of Good Luck Shoes are particularly outstanding in God Loves a Sinner, as guitars, bass and drums seem to form a single organic mass and the vocal harmonies arrive at exactly the right point, before the pace is picked up a tad for the bright, breezy, Slow Down, a song that’s loaded with the wise advice to take time to notice the good things in life – they’re all around us if care to stop and look.  The harmonies are, once again, stunning, and it’s not just the “Sha la la” refrain that reminds me of Van Morrison, either.

GOSPEL FLAVOURS

There’s a strong gospel flavour to the opening verse of I’ll Be the River, before the song takes on the fast-paced feel of a western movie theme. Then, Oli takes centre-stage for his bluesy ballad, Whiskey for Breakfast.  Ben adds a few touches of howling harmonica as Oli delivers his lyrics – a tragic tale of a life that’s gone wrong in every possible way – with requisite passion.

There’s more self-pity in the excellent Let it Rain – a simple song with an irresistible swaying waltz rhythm – before the jaunty, jazzy Wildman brings Good Luck Shoes to its resounding close.  Illuminated by a blast or two from Ben’s trumpet, it’s a chance to have a final listen to those breathtaking harmonies and savour, once more, the craziness of Ben’s lyrics.  There’s a lot of angst in there but the bright, bouncy tune is the clue that these are lyrics that shouldn’t be taken too seriously.

Good Luck Shoes – an accomplished album and a highly rewarding listening experience.

Watch The Lost Notes perform Don’t Try It on Me, live at The Woodman Folk Club in Kingswinford in September 2023 here:

The Lost Notes online: Official Website / Facebook / Instagram / YouTube / Bandcamp

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