Aural Fixations
NIKKI SUDDEN & THE LAST BANDITS
Treasure Island
(Secretly Canadian)
Nikki Sudden is almost the very definition of a cult artist: revered by a small but loyal fan club that includes famous names like Paul Westerberg and members of R.E.M., all but invisible to anything even approaching a mass audience. There are some practical reasons for that. As an artist, Sudden prides passion and immediacy over craft; his loose arrangements and quick-before-the-bar-closes takes can be off-putting to anyone used to the ultra-produced product found on the radio and major labels. Then there's his voice, a nasal whine that's like a blend of Bob Dylan and Lou Reed. It's nothing at which fans of those notables would look askance, but, again, listeners accustomed to R. Kelly and the guy from Creed—hell, even Britney Spears—might wrinkle their noses. More fool they, I say—they're missing some of the most interesting rock music of the last couple of decades.
At every point in a career that stretches back to the late 70s and the experimental rock band Swell Maps (which co-starred his brother, the late, great pop troubadour Epic Soundtracks), and on up through his work with Dave Kusworth in the Jacobites, Sudden has been a rock & roll true believer, absolutely convinced that a good performance of a good song is the greatest of life's achievements. It's a conviction that overrides his limitations on nearly all of his solo records. Treasure Island, his 11th album outside of compilations and live records, may be the pinnacle of his career to date. A combination of his most consistent set of songs and the tightest arrangements he's probably ever had, Treasure Island is a sprawling, magnificent record that distills his primary influences—Dylan and the Stones—through his own barely refined sensibilities into sublime rock & roll. Notorious friends augment the tracks: Waterboys mainstay Anthony Thistlethwaite adds sax and mandolin, guitar slinger Darrell Bath from the Crybabys and the Dogs D'amour rips it up on selected tunes and famed British pedal steel man B.J Cole slides his bar here and there. Most notably, former Stones guitarist Mick Taylor and super-keyboardist Ian McLagan of the Faces add their undeniable magic to several numbers, sounding as at home with Sudden as they ever have with their former employers.
Guest stars aside, however, the record belongs to Sudden. He and his stalwart rhythm section perform with the confidence of veterans but the fire of young bucks, treating each tune in accordance with each one's particular requirements and not wasting a note. Sudden and the Bandits prove themselves as adept at country weepers ("Break Up") as with blues shuffles ("High and Lonesome") and even girl-group pop ("Fall Any Further"). But Sudden is at his best when he weaves blues, country and folk so closely into the tapestry of rock & roll that stylistic designations become meaningless. Whether it's on terrific, thrilling rockers like "Kitchen Blues," "Looking For a Friend" and the spectacular "House of Cards," or on warm, heartfelt ballads like "Stay Bruised," "Russian River" and the gospel-derived "When the Lord" (which segues directly into "Never Let Me Go"), Sudden and the Bandits stay steady, committed and full of passion. A title like Treasure Island might seem arrogant coming from an artist with such a low profile, but it's no idle boast—this truly is a land of jewels, silver and gold, just waiting for savvy music lovers to plunder it. Michael Toland [buy it]
