Perry Keyes

I don’t often get to listen to music for the sheer pleasure of the music itself but when this review is written I will be doing just that and sitting back to listen to Perry Keyes again simply because it is that good.

Perry Keyes is an Australian who plays in what could be called Americana or Roots style country but with some very Aussie references and his songs are personal, historical and bring you right in to the heart of the 'Ocker’ without becoming maudlin or self-important.

The opener 'The Day John Sadler Broke His Jaw’ celebrates a football (Aussie Rules) player who broke his jaw at the start of the match and played the entire match with a shattered jaw – captaining his side to a famous underdog win. But it is more about the feeling of the fans of that underdog side as their unfancied favourites defied all to win for them.

'Kids Day’ is a trip back to a lost childhood when children rode free and the world was huge and full of wonders and if you were lucky you might get a photo taken with the great – Aussie wrestler – Brute Bernard.

The songs throughout the album are stories about the things that are important to us all – betting, drinking, showing off (as kids and adults), homelessness and treats from our parents when all was well with the world but Keys doesn’t miss the other side of life and bemoans the growth in drug culture and the number of stoned young mothers 'with kids on their backs’.

There is an education in Australian culture here in the words and phrases that mean most to Keyes but you can generally get the drift without a phrasebook to help.
The backing band is magnificent all through the album with John Gauci’s Hammond work wonderful but they never drag the attention away from Keyes lyrics and vocals.

There is a great deal owing to Bruce Springsteen, Steve Earle and Elvis Costello in the sound here but the songs all belong to Perry Keyes and him alone.