Clairy Browne & TheBangin’ Rackettes -Baby Caught The Bus

Fri 6th Jan, 2012 in Music Reviews

Following an impressive array of club shows and festival slots, local ensemble Clairy Browne & The Bangin’ Rackettes have finally unleashed their debut album – a release that ought to incite the dance floor antics of retro-aficionados.

If you were to mash Fitz and The Tantrums and Imelda May together, Clairy Browne & The Bangin’ Rackettes debut album would be the result. Browne leads a bombastic nine-piece, their expertise extending across RnB, soul, ska and even gospel. The fusion is fit out with tireless girl-group harmonies courtesy of the Rackettes, their unified voice among the album’s strengths. It’s a potent throwback to the likes of The Andrews Sisters’ and The Chordettes, their respective nuances captured brilliantly. Browne herself, however, emerges the standout and the definitive presence from start to finish. The toe-tapping, cowbell-slapping opener Love Letter ensures her wonderfully sassy charisma is showcased from the outset, the song revolving around a series of sultry, red-blooded propositions. Meanwhile, its follow-up Vicious Cycle captures a similar vibe, owed to a promiscuous bassline bouncing beneath Browne’s vocal caress.

Baby Caught The Bus slips in and out of its professed sexuality, defying all subtlety in the process. It makes perfect sense: the bare-bones lyrical craft is a natural compliment to their brash, brass-fuelled swagger. Clairy Browne & The Bangin’ Rackettes are careful not to over-complicate things, reluctant to depart or detract from their obvious allure. Ultimately, the decision not to shake things up too vigorously beyond the basics bolsters the authenticity of their sweetly nostalgic approach.

The highlights here include the buoyant I’ll Be Fine, the song bound to stir up a frenetic, shoe-shuffling climate. Bang Bang also delights, the track a delectable tango taking cues from Nancy Sinatra. Overall, though, it should be said that Baby Caught The Bus is a fairly consistent record – a trait that, oddly enough, gives rise to the only notable sore point of the release. The album displays an apparent tendency to employ the same tricks of the trade, a stock series of ideas repackaged to render Browne and co.’s gimmick a tad predictable at times. In patches, Baby Caught The Bus resembles a textbook affair, its attempts to entertain fresh twists upon tried and true ideas a little hit and miss.

But that’s not to deny the fun-filled nature of this retro-throwback. Though it is all awfully familiar – even unto itself by the time the dreamy jazz-lounge finale of You Don’t Owe Me Nothing rolls around – Clairy Browne & The Bangin’ Rackettes debut album remains sexy, self-assured and very much enjoyable.