The Retrospective Soundtrack Players – Cool Hand Luke (Album Review)
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Sunday, 10 April 2011 |
Written by Chris Jefferies
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Not every band would invite an audience member up on stage to try and eat 50 eggs in three minutes (fried egg sweets, mind), but that just the kind of band The Retrospective Soundtrack Players are: full of cunning ideas and not afraid to sound slightly gimmicky.
Their debut album 'Cool Hand Luke' takes the same approach to wacky concepts – after all, it's not every band that would base their first record around a cult movie of the same name, and the results thoroughly reward Kyle Evans and co's ambitious, left-field thinking.
 It is hard to fire up this album without thinking of the words 'bandwagon' and 'jumping on' though, with the jangling banjo highly reminiscent of Mumford and Sons, while the affected southern drawl comes across much akin to Conor Oberst during Cassadega-era Bright Eyes.
Many may be put off by Evans' heavy accented singing voice, which grates slightly at first, especially when you are aware of his English roots. However, the story of a rebellious prisoner in 1960s America could hardly be done justice with an RP delivery.
On repeated listening, 'Cool Hand Luke' does reveal some authentic, original and innovative gems. Real Cool Hand is irresistibly catchy, while Arletta boasts the subtle charm of Interpol at their best.
The album's true stand-out track is 'Three Escapes', which is overflowing with folksy soul and boasts a sing-along climax to rival anything Marcus Mumford has written to date.
It's hard to see where The Retrospective Soundtrack Players can go from such a wildly ambitious debut, but if they can keep this standard up, then the future is definitely bright for the UK’s only concept-country / folk band.
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