A six piece, bluegrass acoustic/roots band who have for their first album recorded a set of covers of songs that suits their lively, robust style. They hail from Ireland and have recorded the album in a Lake Studios in Roscommon. These songs sound like they would brew up a storm in a live setting and this album serves as a perfect souvenir for such a setting as well as introducing Rackhouse Pilfer to the world at large.
All six players are accomplished and take turns on the vocal microphone either as lead or backing singers. The main instrumentation is guitar, fiddle, banjo, upright bass and drums. The latter pair giving the songs their drive. The vocals are good and with the band playing skills give the chosen songs a run for their money. The choices are, I would imagine, drawn from the band's inspirations and album collections. They bring the songs through their sound filter with that "hey, I recognise that song" factor. So there's Neil Young's Back To The Country, Ryan Adam's Oh, My Sweet Carolina. Leon Payne's classic Lost Highway, the often covered Long Black Veil as well as Springsteen's Atlantic City to name a few of the ten tracks. All of which fit together well given the band treatment.
They take these songs and give them a uniform approach that will appeal to many and as a first step is an ideal way to get their particular sound and band name across. The way they develop from here is going to be interesting as they will need to look for some lesser know songs as well as developing some original material on which the stamp their own identity on if they want to be taken seriously as more than a glorified covers band, albeit a sassy roots one.
Be that as it may Rackhouse Pilfer have made an foot-tapping, hoedown honed collection that will stand them well as an introductory step to a wider audience. There is no doubt that they will be a hoot in a live setting and have the ability to take it further but for now let's get back to the country - we're we belong.