If you’re an emerging band from Manchester, you evolve within a city filled to the brim with musical legacy. So how do you sew your name into fabric alongside the likes of Joy Division, The Smiths and The Stone Roses? Do exactly what Westside Cowboy have done with their debut album It Goes On.
Surely, you’ve heard of them. Between winning Glastonbury’s Emerging Talent Competition last year, to supporting Geese and The Black Country, New Road, and even slotting in the release of debut EP So Much Country ‘Till We Get There in January, it’s safe to say it’s been a busy year (or two) for the Mancunian four-piece.
How they’ve managed to put together an album, albeit their debut album amongst it all, I have no idea. They clearly organise their time much better than I do. Yet somehow, It Goes On doesn’t feel like something scraped together, but much rather a dignified debut reaching out with a declaration: this is a band who demand your attention.
‘Kick Stones (The Boys)’ acts not just as the album’s first single but its opener too and adjusts us to what Westside Cowboy are all about. They find this happy medium, the perfect balance between vitality and melody, something which sits comfortably throughout the rest of the album’s duration. And much can be said about vocal duties, which bounce around between the band. On this first helping, that blending of Reuben Haycocks’ (vocals/guitar) and Aoife Anson O’Connell’s vocals has become synonymous with the band’s evolving sound. They’re not these belting voices, but much rather softer voices which find home when paired together.
The album’s slower, yet still defined moments masterfully shape the album to its fullest potential. Take, for instance, ‘Dobro,’ which sees previous rapid-fire flicks of guitar compressed into a gentler, fuzzy canvas whereby imagery and metaphor can be painted. ‘Well Done Kid, You Did It’ follows suit with a similar tempo, letting its simple lyrical motif of self-evolution and resilience really shine through.
In terms of the album’s pinnacles, for me, they have to be courtesy of ‘Coyote,’ ‘Pin Up Boys,’ and ‘Take My Leaving As I Love You.’ Press play on each one and be greeted by the vast spectrum of Westside Cowboy’s versatility. Focus on ‘Coyote’ and uncover a tale of modern politics, pushing against a deceptive soundtrack of optimism: “if you’re the man of the people, well then we’re all fucking doomed.” In ‘Pin Up Boys,” that energy, found more so at the beginning of the album, makes an epic comeback, with these thrashing guitars that reach out with urgency. And as for ‘Take My Leaving As I Love You,’ we’re met with a complete diversion as a folk ballad simply consisting of just an acoustic guitar, Haycocks’ vocals and the faintest of keyboards in the background collide in melancholy.
Sitting at just 35 minutes long, Westside Cowboy carve a doctrine of youth, in both sound and lyrics. Scrappy guitar licks tightly wrap around unwavering drumbeats throughout, almost sitting in parallel to the breath of fresh air the band’s music is aiming to be. Amongst their contemporaries, It Goes On doesn’t dare mimic what’s gone before, but instead, leads a new direction for the current indie scene to divert towards.
