It's fair to say that The Bookhouse Boys are not one of those bands who spotted a successful trend and thought, I know what, let's adapt our sound to that. The London nine-piece are often compared to Ennio Morricone but there are really only hints of that emotive Italian film composer. Their brass flourishes and general mood of Mariachi melodrama recall the classic spaghetti westerns but particularly on this, their second album, the mood is tethered to dark, punching walls of guitar and they don't really sound like anybody else.
The band are named after the masonic secret society in David Lynch's classic Nineties TV series Twin Peaks, and a good sonic reference would be the relentless, hammering techno-guitar of the depraved, strobe-lit Pink Room in the Twin Peaks film, Fire Walk With Me. Where the first album had a theatrical burlesque undertow, the new one emanates a howling, injured grit. The single "Guns Like Drums" tilts vaguely in the direction of SWANS' ballistic racket, "A Faded Rose" has more than a hint of Bauhaus about it, and the whole recalls Barry Adamson's early solo material.Just in case I'm over-egging the darker aspects, it's a short album that snaps along at a pace and is invigorated by the sparring singing of Paul van Oestren and Catherine Turner, by turns howling blues devils and Lee Hazlewood/Nancy Sinatra-esque. The band's blistering horn attack sets off fireworks and Van Oestren's lyrics have lost none of their saloon drama. By coincidence tomorrow's Disc of the Day sees the return, after many years, of Duane Eddy, and The Bookhouse Boys' wonderfully OTT "They Will Not Depart" recalls nothing less than a rabid vampire punk assault on Eddy's "Peter Gunn Theme".
The Bookhouse Boys have not veered off in a new direction but they have honed their art. They used to shadow box. Now they smack you in the mouth.
Watch the video for "Guns Like Drums"
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