Ramshackle Heart
Lach
Lach is the enigmatic leader of the Anti-folk movement, he is something of a myth - once beating Joey Ramone to the front of an Iggy Pop gig to win a bet, apparently throwing a pack of Marlboro’s at Billy Bragg during a pro-communist speech and shouting “You’re in America now, pal!” This is a man who has set himself up against the folk scene. The father of the Anti-folk scene that has spawned artists like Regina Spector, Moldy Peaches and Beck.
Lach’s ‘anti-hooternanny’ is also longest running performance at a single club in New York City. Before Ramshackle Heart he had released 5 albums spanning a 20 year period. The album was recorded in Cornwall, far away from the ‘Big Smoke’.
Ramshackle Heart sounds like the bastard child of Bob Dylan’s ‘Rainy Day Woman 12 & 13’, Lach himself says he is inspired by the Clash, Pistols and Jam as much as Dylan, Woody Guthrie and the like. All those who hark back to the days of Bob Dylan sounding like he did on his earlier recordings should give Lach a try, you’ll end up with a new favourite artist and a few more favourite songs. Lach lacks an overly serious soul, which is good to listen to. Ramshackle heart is an album without pretense, it’s an album against the pretense of what a man with a guitar should sound like. Lach is no troubadour, he’s a man with a guitar (and the help of a few friends). He sometimes sound like Dylan, he sometimes sounds like Cash, but he always sounds like himself.
But what of Ramshackle Heart? Witty, enigmatic and catching like a fish on a hook.
Opener ‘Another Night Without You’, starts off the album like the opener of Blonde On Blonde - bundling along, melody trailing behind the jingles and the jangles of Lach’s musical creation. ‘Break the Day’, has a cowboy-film guitar in the back, with Lach’s twisting lyrics above, “Guess I’m just young, guess I don’t know, guess I’ve never done what I was told”, the musical sunset coming over the song. ‘Everyone’s Therapist’, is a clever, bitter and funny song, with a twee synthesizer and ramshackle percussion, Lach sounding ever more like Dylan with his voice. “Baby, I Don’t Want To Know’, with barbershop harmonies and song title sung repeatedly and harmonica is a bitter love song. ‘Lonesome For You’, is like a thin Hold Steady song, guitar solo and backing vocals and bittersweet lyrics. ‘My Gangster’ is a rockabilly-folk romp, ‘my gangster, the only dancer”, hollers Lach. ‘Blue Overcoat’ is a bluesy number which trots along like a lone drunk on the way home from a bar, swaying from one side to the other. Closer ‘Sensitivity’ strums along with deep backing vocals and Lach’s high strained voice moving over the top, it’s a quiet one but it sees Lach give his sound a little more soul without losing the glint in the eye of his music.
Lach has a glut of ideas and they fly around the songs, unable to latch onto his song structures, which make for an interesting, if not scattered, listen. Lach should receive critical acclaim, as is right, for such a strong album. Lets hope a few more people discover him and hope that we find out a little more about the enigma himself. Until then, the album stands strongly in itself, most likely Lach will continue to be an enigma - and I’m sure that’s how he wants it.
Reviewed by Nick Abbey
