Sunday, July 21, 2024

It Starts With a Birthstone - 200 Albums for 2024 # 160 The Hanging Stars - On a Golden Shore

 



The Hanging Stars. A bunch of relaxed guitar strummers with a great name. Easy going Cosmic Cowboys you get the feeling Alan MacGee might be prone to and get slightly dewy eyed if he caught them by chance playing in his local on a Friday night. Byrds and Buffalo Springfield. Big Star and Gram.

I almost saw them playing in the Brandling Arms in Gosforth a few years back. Pretty much a local of mine where I live in Newcastle. A short bus ride from my front door anyhow. But the gig came just as the point that the curtain was coming down for Lockdown and the gig was called off at the last minute just as it was being decided that human beings could not congregate safely together for a while.

The Hanging Stars soldiered on. Kept gigging and putting out records.  On a Golden Shore is the latest and it joins the dots in the Rock & Roll Colouring Book. From Roger and David to Gram to Alex and Chris to Teenage Fanclub. It's all impeccably written, played and wonderfully mellow.

This is another set of songs that say Take It Easy whether The Dude likes it or not. The steel pedal is used, but judiciously It's polite and melodic, doesn't outstay its welcome and the band stays behind to clear away their bottles and help polish the surfaces before closing time. My kind of record and people frankly,. 

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