Peter Perrett - How the West Was Won

Truthfully, I am not that knowledgeable about Perrett's legendary 70's/80's band, the Only Ones, other than their terrific "Another Girl, Another Planet" (that Jeff Dahl turned me onto when we covered it together). This 2017 release is his debut solo release, so I had no idea what to expect from it and on first listen it did not knock me out, but it has really grown on me after just a few turns around the CD player.

As I said, I had no expectations for this, but was initially a little disappointed in the overall mellowness, but I realize that belies a bit of a controlled intensity and some damn good songwriting and playing.

Opening with the title cut, this reminds me of a mix of Lou Reed (solo) and Mott the Hoople (oddly, with a little George Harrison) doing "Sweet Jane" - right down to the guitar licks. This is not a complaint though - I really enjoy this variation on the theme and his imagery and lyrics are strong, even the weird shout out to Kim Kardashian! "An Epic Story" switches back and forth from a mellow ballad to a drum smasher (although the guitars lack an edge), "Hard to Say No" is a bit moody and dramatic, almost gothic, but with nice rhythmic touches, "Troika" is odd pop and "Living in my Head" is another atmospheric number, that is simply but well written and has some excellent, almost psychedelic, guitar work (I think this song is the one that stuck out to me initially).

There's more of his own brand of pop in "Man of Extremes", "Sweet Endeavour" is reminiscent of something that eludes me, but has nice dynamics and energy, "C Voyeurger" is quiet and ethereal yet still catchy, "Something in my Brain" is somewhat of a combination of the Velvets and Patti Smith, with some properly heavy guitars punching through for dynamics and another great solo, and "Take Me Home" somewhat appropriately concludes the deal with another generally delicate number that benefits from powerful guitar interludes.

Probably not something that I will listen to all of the time, but I do appreciate the songwriting and the guitar work here. Nicely done!