Dave Kusworth - An Anthology 1977-2007

The late Nikki Sudden’s expartner gets his moment

As The Jacobites, Dave Kusworth and Nikki Sudden paid eternal homage to their heroes Keith Richards and Johnny Thunders. Sudden revelled in relating his 80s scoring missions with the tragedy-bound ex-Doll, before before being widely understood to have OD’d himself last year. Meanwhile, Kusworth made sure that in every photo of himself he was accompanied by booze, fags, shades and a curtain’s worth of scarves. But, as this careerspanning collection shows, he never stopped making music and, underneath the trappings lay a melange of sturdy Keef riffs, rock’n’roll gypsy romanticism and a talent for writing melodic, dynamic songs.

As the two CDs straddle The Jacobites, a higher quotient from next band The Bounty Hunters, The Tenderhooks and other solo ventures, it’s not hard to spot inspiration points such as Exile-era Stones, Peter Perrett and Johnny Thunders’ So Alone, etc, but Kusworth is at his best when thrusting forth his own soul on acoustic ballads such as Not That Strong and Princess Thousand Beauty, which aren’t shy of bringing in a sax or violin to thicken the atmosphere. There are 11 previously unreleased tracks, including Bounty Hunters demos, and three recorded for this set which show that no 21st Century smoking-ban society’s gonna faze this eternal rock’n’roll spirit.

3 stars 3 stars 3 stars

Troubadour | TR 03 CD

Reviewed by Kris Needs
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