Adelaide’s dynamic and boisterous four-piece band The Timbers have launched a debut album which traverses topics from loyalty to truth-telling and everything in between.
The Timbers combine the irresistible sounds of the banjo, trumpet, mandolin, acoustic guitar and trombone with a four-part vocal harmony and a selection of intriguing instruments played with their feet to produce a diverse, toe-tapping assortment of infectious tunes that warm the cockles of your heart.
Their musical roots are firmly steeped in the recognisable origins of Celtic punk, seasoned with home-flavoured folk and outback bushman’s banter, and topped off with bold brassy overtones.
The Timbers’ upbeat, eclectic style is reflected in Lawless, their first full-length album. The first four tracks – “Rock the Boat”, “Gallantry”, “Mean Streak” and “Wrong Company” – are feisty and proud, sending a strong message of taking action and facing life head-on.
There is change of pace in track five, “Sailing my Way”, which sets the tone for a sequence of more reflective and introspective stories in “Things to Come”and “Need to Change”. Looking outward and projecting forward governs “Something to Do” and “Find Me in the Shallows”,which has its own brand of reverence,leading to the bonus final track, “Shepherd of the Seas”, which was written for the Sea Shepherd organisation.
With a series of festivals and tours under their belt,The Timbers are already known to Adelaide and have a dedicated following for their “tell it like it is” approach to life, love and the law. They won the Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) Emily Burrows Award in 2013, and “Gallantry”, released as a single last year, was named best film clip at the Clare Valley Film Festival.
Singer, guitarist and songwriter Simon Basey describes Lawless as “an energetic assortment of our collective musings over the past couple of years and a real leap forward for us musically as a group”.
The band will be launching the album on Saturday, May 17, at The Jade Monkey, before heading off on a national tour. They will also be performing at the Adelaide Music Collective session this Friday, May 16, at the Goodwood Institute alongside SA singer-songwriter Kelly Menhennett and The Angels’ John and Rick Brewster.
