Ray Collins' Hot-Club The Book Of The Golden Age (CD)

An album like a booze cruise. One with stops in the most diverse bars, from plush burlesque clubs with fine cocktails to backyard shacks where the walls shake and beer is only drunk from bottles. Musically, the HOT-CLUB is still at home where swing and rock'n'roll sound on the glasses. But despite all the stylistic fidelity, the music retains the freedom to adapt to all moods, from loud roaring to quietly melancholy. There are plenty of excursions into the musical neighborhood. Without hesitation, it goes from 50s lounge music to a pinch of country to a cover version of the angry Cramps. If they had covered “New Kind Of Kick” from the 50s, the original might have sounded like this. The title track, The Book Of The Golden Age, describes exactly what fans have appreciated about HOT CLUB for 25 years. On the one hand they revel in the glory of a bygone era, on the other they are determined to live a new era in the here and now, with new ideas, new songs, lavish shows and everything the bar has to offer. *Brisk