Intense, dark, sad, dusty western stuff...very nice!.
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I saw this band live at the End of the Road Festival and thought they were one of the best acts there. The album nearly captures the full passion of thier live performance and the intensity of the songs and lyrics still burns through. More interestingly is that there is not one even slightly mediocre song on the whole album, which is unheard of these days. I look foreward to hearing a loyt more from them.
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High on the Yorkshire moors three travellers took shelter from the storm in a run down inn. To while away the hours the three- Johnny Cash, Ian Curtis and Emily Bronte- decided to form a band- and so Salter Cane was born. Well, not really, but the scene does go some way to summing up this excellent band’s aesthetic. Four piece Salter Cane are purveyors of intense, driving, somewhat gothic take on roots rock. Any fans of 16 Horsepower, The Gun Club or The Men They Couldn’t Hang will immediately feel at home with this, their debut CD. 
   The band’s sound is predominantly acoustic- being based round singer, Chris Askew’s, muscular rhythm guitar and Jeremy Keith’s bouzouki backed with Jessica Spengler on bass and Jamie Freeman’s drumming making rock solid, slightly rockabilly orientated, rhythm section. Chris’ vocals are a huge, booming baritone- shot through with a distinctively dark, Northern English character to both his delivery and lyrics. There is a lurid, Wuthering Heights romanticism running through the nine tracks on the disc- an array of ghost stories, twisted love songs and murder ballads.
   The writing and production is very strong throughout- numbers ranging from the acoustic intimacy of ‘The Other Side’ to a couple of really anthemic number such as ‘Cain’s Light’ or the ‘John Hope’- a pair of colourfully warped tales of death and lust. Gothic roots rock of the highest order,  slightly anachronistic, but enormously enjoyable.
(originally writen for Rock & Reel Magazine)
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