:: The Wildes - Ballad Of A Young Married Man

The Wildes

The Wildes may have won over a lot of fans at Tamworth this year but they will pale into insignificance with the avalanche of fans that their debut album, ‘Ballad Of A Young Married Man’ will attract. Not is this a good album…this is a great album…in fact one of the best albums of the year. There is so much to love about this album that goes far and above what you would normally expect from a country album. There is something Nick Cave-esque about this gem with tracks like ‘Ballad Of A Young Married Man’, ‘Nothing’ and ‘Slap-Back Mary’ sounding like something that deserves to be on The Bad Seeds’ playing list. In fact ‘Nothing’ and ‘Slap-Back Mary’ are so good, they have to be among some of the best to be released this year. Traditional country lovers will enjoy ‘Sweet Teresa’ and ‘Bare Bones’ while fans of great songwriting will simply want to listen to ‘Streets Of My Home Town’ and ‘Sue-Ellen’ over and over. Whether The Wildes are calling upon the classic country sound of ‘If I’ve Done Wrong’ or creating their own smooth sound (like on ‘Loverman’) they are constantly showing what terrific skills they posses and why they deserve to be mentioned amongst Australia’s musical elite. One of the albums of the year, ‘Ballad Of A Young Married Man’ is one of those albums you can simply listen to over and over.