Ian McLagan & the Bump Band Best of British (Gadfly)

Ian McLagan & the Bump Band

Best of British (Gadfly)

This album is misleading all around. First, that title -- Best of British. This is not a "best of" career retrospective, but rather a newly recorded set of fine new material from the former Faces/part-time Rolling Stones keyboard player. And while Mac and guests Ronnie Wood and Billy Bragg are as UK as they come, the bulk of the album was recorded in Austin with Mac's current locally based band (Don Harvey, Sarah Brown, Scrappy Jud Newcomb, and Gurf Morlix), and also features appearances by the Damnations TX. That's not the worst of it, either. Being a solo album by a non-frontman from the Invasion days, British should contain only material of interest to sad, desperate completists of the genre and/or those who hate all music made since the Doors' first album without Jim Morrison. McLagan has tricked us all here, with an album of infectious yet personal tunes, permeated with the deep reflection of a man who's lived long enough to see a lot of life and death (the passing of friend/bandmate Ronnie Lane is felt deeply throughout), and still proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that some people are never too old to rock & roll. McLagan shares the raspy yet powerful voice of his former singer, Rod Stewart, and his work on the ivories is complemented wonderfully by his younger, eager compadres to produce a slab of good music that just about anyone can enjoy. And if you are a completist/new-music hater, you'll still love it.

1/2