Dodgy bastards

"The band itself describes Dodgy Bastards as "very long and very heavy"; yes, it lasts a monstrously generous 72 minutes, and it places an audible degree of emphasis on a heavier-duty rock sound. But that doesn't mean a "lumbering dinosaur", instead, a robust and surprisingly fleet-footed beast, with a wealth of classic nimble prog-rock-styled guitar manœuvres. And vocally too, there's an outstanding strength and flexibility in the coordinated harmony work, with quite a special bond emerging between Maddy and Jessie. Both of the newer band members really get the chance to demonstrate their considerable instrumental proficiency, cohering intelligently with the whole band's constantly evolving vision of folk tradition and beyond".

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"The arrival of first Jesse May Smart and then Spud Sinclair has meant they've the variety and chops in the line-up to focus on the big ballads, the sort of tracks Bob Johnson used to shape, Gothic, full of death, murder and the arcane. Like the sounds of "King Henry", "Alison Gross", "Lang Lankin", "Thomas The Rhymer"? You'll love this then. Most items happily go well beyond the six or seven minute mark and with only a couple of lightweight entries that leaves plenty of meat ... There's a rowdy, boisterous, even raucous element about the majority of the tracks with Kemp and Genocky [on bass and drums] providing a really heavy, definite undertow. That gives quite a trampoline for Smart's classical prog violin, Sinclair's lead pyrotechnics and Julian Littman's dexterity to bounce off. Which just leaves Maddy - she's having a ball and it shows in her performance which is confident and wonderfully assured".