2024 Native Sons Tour Review
The first thing Sid Griffin told the audience as the Long Ryders took to the stage was: “We love The Fleece; we’ve played here four maybe five times and it’s always a great night.” With the reason behind this tour being to celebrate the 40th anniversary of ‘Native Sons’, that album made up the core of the set, starting with ‘Final Wild Sons’ all the way through to ‘I Had A Dream’. The band were playing like they were on their first tour and out to make a name for themselves.
...Highlights? My favourites from the album have always been ‘Run Dusty Run’ and ‘Tell It to the Judge on Sunday,’ and they didn’t disappoint. But overall, it was the band themselves, forty plus years into their career and still attacking each song like it was their only chance to impress which made the evening. Stephen McCarthy is a truly great guitar player, Sid Griffin was throwing shapes and engaging the crowd with the songs. The double drums of Greg Sowders and Simon Hancock were locked tight and Old 97s’ bass player Murry Hammond, who stepped in after Tom Stevens’ passing played like he’d been there for decades.
Americana UK - Read the complete review
Native Sons 3CD Box Set - Reviews
There’s nothing quite like pulling off a coup with your group’s first album, and with a guest appearance from The Byrds’ Gene Clark on Native Sons, The Long Ryders not only did just that, but they also made a pretty clear statement of intent: this is the music we love, these are the songwriters we love, let’s place ourselves in that lineage. The relationship between Clark and The Long Ryders was mutually supportive and beneficial, sharing bills, hanging out together, and thanks to producer Henry Lewy, a backing vocal on the Ryders’ “Ivory Tower”. “Gene Clark was kind to us, always,” Long Ryder Sid Griffin recalls, explaining what led to him calling Clark to ask him to share some of his wayward spirit on Native Sons. “The Long Ryders were told we sounded like The Byrds, so why not have a real Byrd sing on a track?”
Why not indeed. The Long Ryders were smelted in the same furnace as other groups doing the rounds in Los Angeles in the early ’80s – Green On Red, The Rain Parade, The Dream Syndicate, The Bangs (later The Bangles). Between them all, they’d be branded the Paisley Underground, a closely affiliated gang of musicians who embraced all that was good about the psychedelic ’60s – Love, The Doors, The Byrds, 13th Floor Elevators, etc – honing those sounds to a finely crafted setting of jewels and re-introducing the psychedelic aesthetic to underground rock. The Long Ryders were part of the scene, thanks both to the sound they chased, and simply by being based in Los Angeles, but out of all the Paisley Underground groups, they were the ones that crossed over most readily into other territory: roots rock, the not-yet-nascent ‘Americana’ movement, country rock.
It’s no surprise, then, to discover an artist as singular as Tom Petty was a supporter and huge fan of the group, for example. More curious are tales of U2 (who they almost toured with) and Noel Gallagher being big fans. But that’s the story with The Long Ryders – their influence is completely outsize to their level of success. This is not an uncommon story, but it’s curious to think of exactly music The Long Ryders are at the roots of, somehow: you can clearly hear their influence in groups like The Jayhawks and Uncle Tupelo, for example, and the Byrdsian glimmer of the C86 gangs, not to mention much of the music that now passes for Americana. And the foundational tablets for this influence are 1983’s “10-5-60” EP and the following year’s Native Sons, compiled, with a disc of demos and a storming live set from London’s Dingwalls in 1985, in this deluxe edition reissue.
Listening back to “10-5-60” and Native Sons, two things become clear: firstly, the Long Ryders are a group that benefit from lighter, more natural application of production mores; secondly, Stephen McCarthy is a sublime guitarist, someone who unerringly played exactly what the song needed, no more, no less. He was an articulate guitarist, but his proficiency never leaned towards showboating; the playing has no flash, but plenty of taste. It’s an assessment Griffin agrees with: “Stephen McCarthy was the Clarence White of his generation… Stephen shoulda been as famous as Johnny Marr!” One of the cumulative effects of listening to these three hours of early Long Ryders recordings is an ever-increasing awe at McCarthy’s fluency: it’s a perfect showcase for the ragged-yet-right spirit of his playing.
Of course, the songs are uniformly remarkable, too, particularly on the “10-5-60” EP, which might just outshine Native Sons for its flighty gruffness, the way it grabs hold of the moment – ‘this is our shot!’ – and essays six songs that are effortlessly cool in their updating and emboldening of Byrdsian folk-rock jangle. Native Sons introduces more country and roots elements to their songs, and Lewy’s production helps to highlight the melodicism at the core of the Long Ryders’ sound. (He was a wise choice, having produced Flying Burrito Brothers.) It’s the outliers that really shine here – the slow, mordant acoustic lament of “Fair Game”; the sky-bound, chiming mantra of “Too Close To The Light”. The demos shed light on the album’s development and offer a glimpse at some of the covers the group played: a convincing “Masters Of War”, and a gorgeous take on Tim Hardin’s “If I Were A Carpenter”. Forty years on, it still makes for thrilling rock music that moves the music forward by highlighting the art of its past.
Uncut Magazine - Read the complete review
Native Sons joyfully reframed musical styles of the past for the present. Even so, the freshness and oomph of The Long Ryders’ debut album meant revivalism was sidestepped. Originally issued in October 1984, it was a landmark in helping to nurture what would later be habitually defined as Americana. The word had been around, but Native Sons was pivotal to it gaining traction. Up to this point The Long Ryders were lumped in with Los Angeles’ “Paisley Underground” scene, a loose branding of Eighties bands schooled in and drawing from cool sounds of earlier eras – The Bangles, The Dream Syndicate, The Rain Parade and The Three O’Clock were the other leading lights.
The Long Ryders had their own flavour. As Anthony DeCurtis puts it in the booklet coming with this smart, three-disc clamshell edition of the album, the band “set out to restore primacy to styles of music that you could feel via your pulse and through your sweat glands…punk rock…the transcendent possibilities of psychedelia…country music.” “On the aptly titled Native Sons,” he continues. “The Long Ryders sought to resurrect the power of all those musical styles and combine them to speak in a unique, individual, and contemporary voice about an America more real and more true than the one Reaganomics was in the process of creating...The Long Ryders epitomize Americana, embody it, and champion it. They even helped invent it."
Disc One of this reconfiguration of the terrific Native Sons appends their debut release, the 10-5-60 EP, to the album, along with tracks which would have been added to the latter as a proposed follow-on record with the title 5×5. Disc Two collects demos from the period, while Disc Three is occupied by a ripping live set recorded at a 22 March 1985 show at London’s Dingwalls. It’s all great, and The Long Ryders ought to have been received with open arms in a world where the sheen inherent to MTV had, from around three years earlier, redefined how America was experiencing – and consuming – music. Looking back at how the resolutely non-glossy Long Ryders were scrutinised in the run-up to and after the release of their debut album is fascinating. The band was frequently called on to justify itself. The result? What comes across as defensiveness.
Take this, from Billboard, just after Native Sons came out. Asked if they are country rockers, band member Stephen McCarthy said “We’re not really big on that term. We consider ourselves to be a country band that just has a large rock ’n’ roll influence.” Or this. At the end of the year, fellow Ryder Sid Griffin told L.A. Weekly “Let’s face it, people who’ll give you a break on the first record won’t later on. Our EP got 99 per cent good reviews, and now with the album [i.e. Native Sons], which is the best we could do with the money we had, people are taking pot-shots at the sound, bitching about the production. But I think it’s a great record, and you can quote me on it.”
The next autumn, in the UK’s Sounds, Griffin responded to a mischievously negative comparison of The Long Ryders to contemporaries Hüsker Dü and The Minutemen by saying “If you take the end of ‘I Had a Dream' [from Native Sons], it's simply D-modal bashing around…a chord being beaten into submission. I didn't get that from Merle Haggard or relative pansies like The Byrds; I would get it from The Ramones, the first Clash album. The Sex Pistols, Circle Jerks, Black Flag, The Stooges’ Funhouse.” As well as a prickliness during encounters with the music press, this also attests to The Long Ryders’ knowledge of and love for music history. What they recorded and released was in the now, but what they drew from was never far. Native Sons included an untrammelled version of Mel Tillis’ “(Sweet) Mental Revenge.” Former Byrd Gene Clark sings on the album’s “Ivory Tower.” The album’s cover photo and design overtly nod to what was prepared for Stampede, a planned but shelved Buffalo Springfield album. The Dingwalls’ live set on Disc Three includes versions of Flamin’ Groovies’ “I Can't Hide” and Dylan’s “Masters of War.” Elsewhere, on Disc Two, is a demo recording of Tim Hardin’s “If I Were a Carpenter.”
Back when Native Sons was originally released, The Long Ryders’ openness about their musical enthusiasms and influences was inverted to become a stick with which to beat them. Nowadays, such candour is accepted as part of any band or solo artist’s agenda. Add this pioneering attitude to their pivotal role in nurturing Americana and it’s now clear The Long Ryders were about more than the records they released.
The Arts Desk - Read the complete review
Probably not much need, at this late date, to tell you how marvellous this LP is, or why. Better we should focus on the treasure trove of additional material contained in this new edition.
Immediately, the first disc (the original album in full) is appended with the band's earlier, hungrier, punkier EP 10-5-60. This majestic early '80s slab gets short shrift from many latter-day fans, and more's the pity. Your writer proudly numbers himself among the small-but-passionate minority who wishes that Sid Griffin had reached into his psyche's Inner Console and turned down the Gram Parsons knob just a hair [while concurrently turning up the Joe Strummer knob by an equivalent hair). But that opinion is moot in this case, for there's plenty for everyone here. Disc Two has 19 demos for both the EP and LP, each of them more visceral than the versions you've heard, and uniformly wonderful.
The real treat, though, is disc three's complete live show (at Dingwall's in March 1985.) 'Final Wild Son' will make you look in the back of the wardrobe for your fringed buckskin, and 'Join My Gang' will make you want to pogo. Do not attempt to pogo while wearing the buckskin. I think that's still not allowed. ***** Mike Fornatale
Shindig! - Read the complete review
Country rockers' debut. A quite superb 3CD, 56-track box set of the debut album the Americana-rock'n'roll outfit issued 40 years ago, joining similar collections of their other two 80s albums.
The original record is a rampant psych-tinged West Coast rock'n'pop romp with edgy, supremely-catchy numbers such as Run Dusty Run, Tell It To The Judge On Sunday and (Sweet) Mental Revenge. Add the 10-5-60 ER which predates the album, along with B-sides and other sessions and that's a class compilation in itself. Then there are demos of most of the album, and a breathless 14-track Dingwalls live set from 1985. Compiled with the aid of frontman Sid Griffin, long a Londoner, it's a non-stop, high-energy garage-meets-country party.
Record Collector - Read the complete review
NATIVE SONS was the debut album from critically acclaimed US alt-country outfit The Long Ryders, first released in Britain in October 1984 and going on to top the country’s indie charts soon afterwards as they revived the musical ethos of The Flying Burrito Brothers to create what Melody Maker described as “a modern American classic.” The original long player is now available as an expanded three-CD set, drawing on a generous helping of top-notch B-sides and demos alongside a recording of the band’s gig at London’s Dingwalls venue in March 1985.
Sid Griffin’s eclectic outfit have rarely been captured in finer fettle, and their heady fusion of country, psychedelia and classic 1950s rock ’n’ roll underpins gems such as Too Close To The Light, I Had A Dream and the Byrds-influenced Ivory Tower.
Morning Star - Read the complete review
Since its 1984 debut, The Long Ryders’ album, Native Sons has been regularly lauded by the music press. The album’s fusion of Garage, Folk and Country Rock has commonly drawn praise from high profile publications such as Rolling Stone, Mojo and Melody Maker. Some referring to the album as the originator of Americana.
Founder member Sid Griffin has collaborated with the Cherry Red staff to compile this 3 CD boxset celebration, adding 2 discs of outtakes, demos, and live tracks to the original, groundbreaking album.
It’s worthy of note that the label have championed the Long Ryders for many years now, wrapping up the bands first three albums, Native Sons, State Of Our Union and Two Fisted Tales, plus added value live material, in a 2016 boxset, titled Final Wild Years. An elongated, 3 CD boxset of State Of Our Union and Two Fisted Tales was further compiled and released by the label in 2019.
In amongst the bonus material within this Native Sons’ Compilation there are some genuine gems. More obviously, The 5 x 5 Sessions (originally known as the 10-5-60 EP, basically an audition tape to hawk around major labels, prior to Native Sons) are tacked on the back of the eventual full length album. Other key demos include the Tokyo Tapes, recorded further back (1982), before the band developed their fully realised sound . . . a merge of the Beatles, The Flying Burrito Brothers and naturally, Bob Dylan. Talking of which, among the 44 bonus tracks here, the band cover Dylan’s seminal protest song ‘Masters Of War’. Once as a demo and once as part of the band’s live set, recorded at Dingwalls in 1985, which comprises most of Disc 3. Also in this set is a cover of Tim Hardin’s ‘If I Were A Carpenter’, a song steeped in the traditions of English folk music and a huge hit for Bobby Darin in 1968, smoothing his attempted transition from Top Forty Pop to genuine artistry.
The band have seen some members come and go, but three of the four originals, Sid Griffin (a sometime Coal Porter), Stephen McCarthy (a sometime Jayhawk) and Greg Sowders are still together, recording after a fresh start up in 2017. The Long Ryders never truly evolved from College Campus favourites to chart busting best sellers in the USA, but they progressively gained in reputation and popularity on this side of the Atlantic.
The band’s two most recent albums, Psychedelic Country Soul (2019) and September November (2021) opened to huge critical acclaim in the UK music media. Both have been released by the label they call home, Cherry Red. Having proven their durability, it looks like longevity will be unavoidable. *****
Get Ready To Rock - Read the complete review
"Native Sons" was the debut album from critically acclaimed American alt country outfit The Long Ryders, first released in the U.K. in October 1984 before going on to top the country's indie charts soon afterwards. The original long player is now available as an expanded 3 CD set, drawing on a generous helping of top notch B sides and demos and a recording of the band's gig at London's Dingwalls venue in March of the following year.
Sid Griffin's eclectic outfit have rarely been captured in finer fettle, and their heady fusion of country, psychedelia and classic fifties rock'n'roll underpins gems such as "Too Close To The Light," "I Had A Dream" and the Byrds influenced "Ivory Tower."
Lancashire Telegraph - Read the complete review
Sid Griffin must be relishing his revival of the Long Ryders brand, the band proving still a big hit on the live circuit, and, now, Cherry Red are doing what they do best with their back catalogue, rebadging and reboxing this sometimes overlooked band. Overlooked? Well, yes and no. To those in the know, they were always there, an integral part of the Paisley Underground family of guitar bands in the 80s, sometimes lumped in, a little lazily, as being all at one with Dream Syndicate, The Bangles and Rain Parade. Sure, there were similarities, the whiff of psychedelia infusing their guitar gymnastics, but, and never more clearly than on this, their debut, there was a whole lot more going on, principally in the debt to the Byrds, and particularly their mid to late period country fumes.
But they were never just Griffin’s band, even if he was the accepted spokesman for the quartet. Joining Griffin on guitar and vocals was, and still is, Steven McCarthy, himself every bit as good a songwriter, and player, as Griffin, and debonair sticksman, Greg Sowders. The fourth member, present during the many reformations of the band, and there have been a few, was bassist, Tom Stevens, a third accomplished singer and the conscience of the band, who died, suddenly, two years ago. The band play on, without him, but never without an onstage tribute to the magnitude of his input to the whole.
Native Sons came out in 1984. An earlier EP, 10-5-60, also included in this set, had set out their stall as a heavily 1960’s influenced psychedelic rock band, a slightly trippier Flamin’ Groovies, but for their Frontier Records debut they dialled some of that back, in favour of the purer country rock, with roll. A good decison. Relistening now, it is easy to have forgotten quite how important was this aspect, with the occasional banjo and steel coming as some forgotten surprise, not least as they later became more and more a guitar band. Sure, we have all read the ‘Godfathers of Americana’ hype, but, y’know, listening again, they were, they really were. Indeed, not until Griffin moved on to his next project, the Coalporters, was there this much country on the palette. (And, then, of course, there was a whole lot more of that, from where that came from)...
At The Barrier - Read the complete review
Like a punky Buffalo Springfield or second album Clash with a thing for Woody Guthrie, this L.A. quartet made its LP debut in 1984 with the admirably varied Native Sons, which straddled power-pop and ersatz country while throwing in some cooking garage-rock and earnest balladry along the way. Cowboy-ish bands that pose in front of rustic cabins for their album cover are often lumbered with dusty notions of "authenticity," but SID GRIFFIN and pals sounded like they were having fun and weren't pretending to be anybody other than who they were. Across three discs and 56 tracks, reissues giant Cherry Red delivers the goods again: the original album, the band's punchy 1983 10-5-60 EP, and a veritable mountainload of must hear demos and radio sessions, closing out with an A+ live set from London's Dingwalls in March '85.
The Big Takeover - Read the complete review
September November 2023 Tour - Live Reviews
"Here’s the short version – right now The Long Ryders are on fire..."
"A gig by The Long Ryders is always going to be an event, that goes without saying, and anyone who thinks that this writer is going to be approaching such an event without a keen anticipation is clearly not thinking straight. But remember, those who admire a band are often the hardest critics. So here’s the short version – right now The Long Ryders are on fire, their last album – different from their Eighties material though it is – is excellent. ‘Psychedelic Country Soul‘ was also a fine album. They’ve taken a hit from the passing of Tom Stevens, but they took the decision to carry on playing this music that is both the bedrock of Americana and also has, and always had, a good following who, sure, of course, want to hear the old stuff but just as importantly are invested in the future of the band. And so the band turned to Murray Hammond of the Old ’97s to form their current touring line up as a classic four piece – delightful frills and fripperies that decorate the newer albums having been left at home to leave what is a hard-hitting rock band.
A rumbling guitar intro erupted into the instantly recognisable ‘Tell It To The Judge On Sunday‘ with Sid Griffin making the first rebel declaration of the night – a song which declares that if this so bothers you, go tell it to the judge because, frankly I do not care. This was an attitude further underscored by the rejection of rules and restrictions by the voice of one pushed just a little too far on ‘You Don’t Know What’s Right, You Don’t Know What’s Wrong.’ And here was The Long Ryders at full power from the outset.
With the raised stage at 229 draped with several Ukrainian flags Sid Griffin explained the several delays that this gig had experienced – the little matter of a global pandemic and then finding that the originally planned venue was the property of a Russian oligarch – who could have guessed? But third time was indeed the charm. Through the night, stage centre Sid Griffin would do most of the talking – revelling in his role as the brash frontman of the band – and when not talking or singing would take up a series of rock star poses utilising speakers as foot rests, and striking the ever popular vertical guitar power chord strum position. The dapper Stephen McCarthy did his talking with a series of guitar solos interspersed with lap steel whilst Greg Sowders powered along seemingly unstoppable at the back. Murray Hammond looked happy to be here, and added the bass lines with a calm precision.
‘Flying Down‘ was the first of the new songs from the new album ‘September November‘, others included the trumpeting ‘Seasons Change‘ and the title track itself – songs reflecting on time passing, on ‘meeting again when the road comes back around‘, looking forward with the occasional glance over the shoulder at what has gone, what has been lost.
The Long Ryders always did include a few covers, ‘(Sweet) Mental Revenge‘ is as cathartically caustic as ever, but there was also a sense of dues paying with the inclusion of ‘Mr Spaceman’, with Murray Hammond on lead vocals, in the encore a masterful ‘When I Paint My Masterpiece‘ and a song which Sid Griffin introduced as being by someone who came to see The Long Ryders twice “and he paid the first time.” A blissful rendition of ‘Walls‘, marking it out again as surely the best thing that Tom Petty ever wrote. Sitting alongside other similarly jangle rich songs as the sublime ‘Ivory Tower‘, written by early band member Barry Shank which once again made the strong argument to be the greatest Byrds-esque song ever (and yes, that does mean it beats out ‘American Girl‘), and the strident better than REM ‘Capturing The Flag‘ the point was eloquently made that, first time around, The Long Ryders were just too good to be properly appreciated. This, then, was making for a gig that would deserve inclusion in our Night To Remember series – and that’s quite an achievement for a band who are, let’s face it, a little older than when we first encountered them live in the eighties.
Taking up the band’s more country-rock with a side of Clash style punk there was a timelessness to ‘Gunslinger Man‘ – a put down of braggarts and worshippers of false idols: “He used to be feared for the length of his gun / Today he’s known for the strength of his tongue” can’t help but bring to mind certain politicians and notorious liars. Similarly the inevitable final encore ‘Looking for Lewis and Clarke‘ just highlighted that, you know, for some sections of society things never really change, do they?
And with Greg Sowders throwing his sticks into the audience that was, definitively, it – for this time at least, but there’s another tour in the Autumn, and sometime around Christmas – before or after – the opportunity to again purchase ‘Native Sons‘ this time in a full 3CD deluxe edition. That’s the future though – in the present there was the opportunity to reflect on what had been a flawless gig, finely balanced between The Long Ryders’ first creative phase and their newly productive incarnation and with the band having the grace to acknowledge their inspiration without the braggadocio to harp on about what an influence they have been themselves. Sparring guitar players, multiple great songwriters within the band, two lead singers of distinction – this is not your everyday band."
Live Review: The Long Ryders + Autumn Saints, 229, London – 20th May 2023 by J. Aird
Americana-UK - Read the complete review.
"Not Covid nor the sad demise of their bassist Tom Stevens were enough to stop the American band The Long Ryders who, after having been on a UK tour and a musical cruise last year, returned this year with one of the best albums of all of 2023 and a tour that took them around Europe.
The Chiari date was the last of the Italian section before they moved to Switzerland and then to England. A round of applause to the ADMR association, to Maurizio Mazzotti and his compadres, who have kept the interest in the group alive and continue to do so much for the promotion of live music (and not only that, given that they now also conduct a webra-god).
After a short set featuring prog-inspired songs in Italian, played by Rusties from Bergamo, the Long Ryders took to the stage (so to speak since the stage wasn't really there and they played there - floor fleece) and stunned an unyielding audience with a performance that was rigorously very rock, very electric, at times raw. Sid Griffin continues to be the star of this lineup, the witty front man, the one who takes care of maintaining a close bond with the public and with the group's following; Stephen McCarthy is "the" guitar par excellence, be it a Telecaster, a Gibson or something else, whether there is a short and fitting solo in country-rock style, or Americana if you prefer, or whether there is jamming to do with Sid's most Garibaldian chi tarra. Greg Sowders, with his usual cowboy hat, has always been the right man behind the drums, with a solid punk past behind him and a witty sparring partner for the frontman. Bass is now played by Murry Hammond, who comes from the famed Old 97's band with a long career.
The Long Ryders appear in public one at a time, just enough time for Sid to take the usual photo of the audience for his posts on Instagram and the classic Tell It To the Judge On Sunday starts immediately, the sound is there, the sound engineer does a good job even if every now and then the mix becomes confusing, a shame about the total absence of scenography and stage, which makes the performance a bit aseptic on a visual level.
An excerpt from the band's debut EP, You Don't Know What's Right, immediately follows, with Stephen singing, as in Gonna Make It Real, from the 2019 album, while in Elmer Gentry is Alive And Well (from new excellent album) he shares the task with Sid, who seems to prefer to save his voice for his own songs, also leaving the task for a good part of the backing vocals to bassist Hammond, while devoting time to the harmonica. Stephen is more staid, at the beginning of the concert he even wears a jacket, which soon disappears, he has to concentrate on solos and vocal parts, Sid is the guy, he makes moves, he makes faces, he urges the audience.
Seasons Change is also from the new album, the rhythm section is robust: the song does not end but continues on the last notes with Sid attacking the rock'n'roll riff of the powerful State Of Our Union, the solo is double, first Stephen, then Sid, then both, the electricity is palpable, the audience appreciates it and the applause breaks out even on stage, albeit covered by the noise. The sound of guitars.
At this point Griffin, with the help of the voice translator on the phone, greets and thanks the audience in Italian, then takes up the twelve-string Rickenbaker: it is a bit difficult to keep constantly in tune, but the beginning with Capturing The Flag and Ivory Tower it's scary, it's so beautiful, then it's the title track of the new album, September November, followed by Lights Get in the Way from Two Fisted Tales. Sid jokes by presenting / Want You Bad, cover of the NRBQ and warns those present not to record it as a single if they decide to start a group, to avoid breaking up the next day as happened to the Long Ryders themselves and other bands!
At this point the homage to the Byrds is de rigueur, with the microphone switching to the voice of Murry Hammond, wearing a western shirt, for a beautiful Mr. Spaceman, the set with the twelve strings ends with I Had A Dream , introduced by effective psychedelic digressions which however highlight some problems with the tuning of Sid's guitar. After the inevitable introduction of the group comes a competitive version of Final Wild Son, then Greenville, abrasive in turn, from Psychedelic Country Soul, Gunslinger Man and the beautiful Lights Of Downtown. The concert would have ended, but for the public, as expected, it wasn't enough, so here are the Long Ryders back on stage for an epochal finale marked first by Stephen who covers The Shape I'm In from the songbook of the Band and then the inevitable Looking For Lewis And Clark full of sparkling rock'n'roll roughness. And this time it is really the end."
Buscadero Magazine - Read the complete review
September November - Reviews
"The Long Ryders' return on 2019's Psychedelic Country Soul, their first album of new material for 32 years, found the pioneers of the Paisley Underground movement in fine fettle and with a few new tricks up their sleeve. This fresh set of songs follows the same course and casts the net even wider - although it wasn't the easiest of albums to make.
Tom Stevens, bassist since 1983, died unexpectedly in 2021, and he was foremost in the group's mind during the writing of September November. He is eulogised directly on the country ballad "Tom Tom", which is littered with affectionate snapshots of times past: "Always right in tune/He's groovin' on the left side down in the engine room". The lyric also references three of Stevens' songs from solo albums he made during The Long Ryders' lengthy hiatus, one of which, "Flying Out Of London In The Rain" also closes proceedings here, with the band adding new instrumentation to his original vocal track. Originally heard on Stevens' 2007 release Home, it catalogues his thoughts on heading back to the States after the group's original demise following a 1987 European tour, and its palpable sense of important life chapters coming to an end chimes elegantly with September November's overall mood.
More obliquely, there are autobiographical elements to the harmonious jangle echoes of Stephen McCarthy's "Seasons Change", on which he takes stock of lasting friendships in the wake of Tom's passing: "I hope you know any place you go/Your love will always shine like an afterglow". It's the song here that most closely echoes the sun-kissed back pages of the group's '80s albums, 1985's State Of The Nation especially, and while the melodic psychedelia of old rears its head in several places, there's a strong straight country influence elsewhere, notably in Sid reflecting the weather-beaten Americana of of his other 21st-century band The Coal Porters...
...A full 15 years passed between 2004's initial reunion shows and the new songs Psychedelic Country Soul, and while it may have been wait-and-see trepidation that dissuaded them from returning to the studio earlier, since they've reconvened as a recording entity, The Long Ryders have mapped out every step meticulously. Yes, nostalgia played a significant role in them getting back together, but September November is undeniably a vital, relevant, 21st-century artefact. It's reassuring to learn they're in it for the long ryde. 8/10"
Uncut Magazine - Read the complete review
"Less a comeback, more a continuation of a vital musical legacy.
Band reunions are frequently daunting high-wire balancing acts as much for the fans as they are for the band. On the one hand, long-term supporters get to bask in the warmth of their youth; a reminder of days gone by when life was a long path stretching ahead and chores could always be put off until tomorrow. On the other, the band in question can line up one more pay day before bidding each other a final farewell. But what to make of those groups who want one more round in the studio? Will they add to their legacy, or fall to the floor by sullying it with substandard tosh that does no one any favours?
As evidenced by 2019's Psychedelic Paisley Soul - their first album in more than 30 years - The Long Ryders not only defined their oeuvre, but actually picked up where they left off. And now, proving that it was no fluke, September November refines their sound further with a lyrically contemplative look at the ongoing march of time, while pausing to shake a disappointed head at the state of our union and beyond.
One of the progenitors of alt.country, having first come along back in 1982, The Long Ryders' sound remains firmly in place. For sure, this is country rock, but not the overly produced variant that prizes smoothness over grit. This is a band who are still captivated by the possibilities of what the form can offer. But, with the passing of bassist Tom Stevens, they are facing up to mortality within an off-kilter world, with an approach that's neither maudlin nor hectoring. Opener Seasons Change sets out its stall early, a thematic declaration of what's to come. The music is bright and dynamic, belying its lyrical concerns, and these seeming disparities mesh beautifully. Elmer Gantry Is Alive And Well, driven by a sense of tension that recalls the Velvet Underground's I'm Waiting For The Man, is unstinting in its condemnation of the 2021 attack on the US Capitol and those behind it, while The Hand of Fate's tender meditation on mortality is matched by the celebratory tribute to their fallen bassist on Tom Tom.
The Long Ryders are older now but, crucially, they don't sound old. By making music that reflects on their lives both personally and also as part of a wider, global community, they're managing that high-wire balancing act without the use of a safety net."
Classic Rock Magazine - Read the complete review
"A country-rocking triumph from US veterans.
This second album by the reformed alt-country rockers is their first without late bassist Tom Stevens. The result is, at times, gentler, more reflective with songs such as the beautiful tribute Tom Tom, Flying Out Of London In The Rain and the quiet instrumental, Song For Ukraine. But there's also the freewheeling sound the band have always been known for, opening with the semi-title track September November Sometime while their understated psychedelia surfaces on the hypnotic, guitar-rocking Elmer Gantry Is Alive And Well. Add a dusting of country soul and it's a cool collection, all written by frontmen Stephen McCarthy and London-based Sid Griffin and with regular producer Ed (Ramones) Stasium at the controls."
Record Collector - Read the complete review
"There were so many new genre names being thrown around in the 1980s that a scorecard was needed to keep up. One of the primary ones then was the Paisley Underground, and out of that vaunted crowd came the Long Ryders. Named after a popular Walter Hill-directed movie, the group would more appropriately have been a newly-added heavy in country rock, soon to be tagged Americana, but in the end it didn’t matter because the Long Ryders were one of the very best bands of their era, no matter what they were called. They quickly conquered the club scene in Los Angeles, and before long Sid Griffin, Stephen McCarthy, Greg Sowders and Tom Stevens started a long march around the world in spreading the glory of their sound.
They return now, minus member Tom Stevens of a sudden death in early 2021, with all guns blazing. In so many ways, the Long Ryders are really best-tagged a rock band, because that’s what they really do. McCarthy and Griffins’ guitars are clearly slanted in a rock direction, while vocally the band can sing just about anything. What is so righteous about SEPTEMBER NOVEMBER is just how strong it is, even if the new album is something of a reunion record. Every new song feels like one of the group’s very best, an amalgamation of the many influences they have so wisely used over the years. Different bassists are beautifully filling Stevens’ bass slot, but in the end his spirit is still in the band, laying down the bottom notes in a never-ending rush of excitement. What has been clear since day one of the Long Ryders is just how much they love the music they are creating, like it’s the life blood in all of them. And, so very beautifully, Tom Stevens steps back into the spotlight on his song “Flying Out of London in the Rain,” like he’s still right in the front line of the group. It’s a tremendous way for Stevens to wave goodbye, and such a heartfelt chance for the Long Ryders to send their musical brother to his next journey.
SEPTEMBER NOVEMBER is one of the band’s very best albums, passionately produced, recorded and mixed by Ed Stasium, and feels like a direct line from his work with the Ramones. And that’s saying something. Tom Stevens RIP."
Americana Highways - Bentley’s Bandstand - Read the complete review
"Despite the global interruption of the pandemic and, closer to home, the death of bassist Tom Stevens in January 2021, The Long Ryders' return to recording action that began with 2019's Psychedelic Country Soul continues with their fifth studio album.
Inevitably, there's a focus on passing time and pressing mortality, as on the plaintive country-rock jangle 'Seasons Change', but 'Elmer Gantry Is Alive And Well' harnesses a 'Waiting For The Man' groove to angry political commentary, while 'To The Manor Born' is balls-out garage boogie, and 'That's What They Say About Love' another Sid Griffin contender for The Great American Songbook. Ultimately, however, one man casts a long shadow, and Griffin, Stephen McCarthy and Greg Sowders pay heartfelt tribute to their fallen bandmate on 'Tom Tom', with Stevens' own 'Flying Out Of London In The Rain' appropriately closing the album. Featuring elegiac slide guitar, it's a fitting farewell."
Shindig! Magazine - Read the complete review
"The Long Ryders release their follow-up to 2019’s acclaimed Psychedelic Country Soul LP next month. Produced by Ramones man Ed Stasium, written and recorded – mostly – since Tom Stevens died at just 64 years old, ‘September November’ sees guitarist Steven McCarthy taking on bass duties with Murry Hammond of Americana stalwarts the Old 97s helping out. D. J. Bonebrake from Los Angeles’ punk legends X also guests as does Coal Porters’/Royal Academy of Music violinist Kerenza Peacock.
The roots of the Long Ryders can be traced back to garage rock revivalists the Unclaimed, who formed in Los Angeles in 1979. The Long Ryders’ early work was heavily influenced by both punk (largely attributable to devoted record collector Sid Griffin) and old-school country (loved by Steven McCarthy). Since 1983, or thereabouts, drummer Greg Sowders has sat behind three multi-instrumentalists /singers /songwriters in the shape of McCarthy, stage right, Tom Stevens, stage left, and Griffin, in the middle. That virtuosity, those three voices, means Long Ryders’ records have never had to tow any sort of a line. In fact, they paint their own.
The band’s fifth LP proper, and second since their substantial sojourn – between 1987 and 2004 – ‘September November’ is, Griffin says, “two-thirds the distilled alt-country genre we helped found back in the 1980s and one-third Paisley Underground adventurism with a dash of our own crazed soulfulness thrown in.” The album might be largely shorn of Tom Stevens’ creativity but it’s rife with his influence, which culminates in ‘Flying Out Of London’, the song he left behind. Tom sings it and plays guitar on top of his own big, typically telling bassline, backing vocals courtesy of daughter, Sarah Stevens...
...Much more than a tribute to a politically savvy, brilliant musician, words attributable to Long Ryders all, incidentally, ‘September November’ is a wonderful LP – the playing, the lyrics and the singing, those harmonies. It deserves its place under the band’s umbrella alongside the giants: ‘Native Sons,’ ‘State Of Our Union’, ‘Two-Fisted Tales’ and ‘Psychedelic Country Soul’.
In Johnny Black parlance, this is the perfectly right record at the perfectly right time."
Punktuation Magazine - Read the complete review
"Reinventing the Alt. Country Template That They Helped Create.
Just as I was making a list of Alt. Country pioneers for a future episode of the RMHQ Radio Show, an e-mail hailing the new album from The Long Ryders arrived in my ‘in box’ …. yet again serendipity is playing around with my brain! Country Rock and Southern Rock had both morphed into Corporate Rock and a set of music fans like me where left waiting to sate out appetite and along came; what seems like a lifetime ago, The Long Ryders alongside The Good Sons and Grand Drive arrived out of nowhere and helped change our perception of what Country Music should and could sound like in the mid 1980’s.
Leap forward nigh on 40 years and the band is back together again (for the umpteenth time) with a handful of original and key members with a brand new angle on their distinctive ‘Psychedelic Country Rock’ signature. The title track September November Sometime comes at you like a half starved wild cat; there’s no time to get comfortable as the Ryders attack your senses with a feisty and punchy Urban tale full of passion and violin playing that’s worthy of Jerry Goodman after a night on mescal! This is immediatly followed by Seasons Change; which sounds quite Byrdsian (no surprise there) but something that The Byrds may have thought too extreme for Dr Byrds & Mr Hyde …. if that makes sense; and hopefully will, when you hear it.
What’s key to the arrangements here is the tightness of every track; this is the antithesis of all those fat and hirsute Truckers and Cowboys that litter Country Radio these days; there are melodies a ‘plenty, that’s for sure but a sense of ‘relationship claustrophobia’ too …. this ain’t Friday night drunk-dancing music; songs like Hand of Fate, To The Manor Born and/or Flying Down are contemporary, grown up songs with mature themes that need to be listened to (preferably in the car IMHO) that will have you pursing your lips as you tap your toes while making sure that the grandkids aren’t destroying the house. Obviously I’m of an age when I can appreciate clever stories like the magnificent Tom Tom and the polar opposite and rocktastic Seasons Change without worrying if they’re ‘cool enough’ to discuss in public …. they are; but that’s not the point; I know what I like and it’s songs and albums like these; and who care what the man in the newspaper thinks?
I’ll tell you what makes this album and these songs so different and more grown up than most everything that’s coming out of Nashville these days; it’s the inclusion of Song For Ukraine. An instrumental with soft Classical undertones and a melody; vis the violin that hints at Ukrainian Folk Music …. The Long Ryders probably don’t care if you like it or not (trust me you will) but it’s something that their socialist hearts felt had to be done. Just when you were least expecting it, The Long Ryders drop in a soulful Jug Band mash-up with Country Blues (Kitchen) and our little world is all the better for hearing it …. especially the harmonica solos.
I’m pretty sure my choice of Favourite Song will change most every time I play this album; but while checking my notes from last week when I played it for the first time; I concur with my original thoughts that Elmer Gantry Is Alive and Well, the gentle Until God Takes Me Away and the effervescent shuffle of That’s What They Say About Love are all up there with not just the best of the Long Ryders back catalogue; but any or all of the cross-genres that make up Roots Music these days; and I’m singling out the jumping and hot That’s What They Say About Love which is everything I love about Cowtown Music all wrapped up in 2 minutes and 37 seconds. The album closes with a fabulous dose of Country melancholia and coiled tension via Flying Out Of London which may or may not be a metaphor for a relationship break up; but regardless it’s still a stunning piece of music. Due to the unexpected passing of bassist Tom Stevens, bass duties on the new album were shared here by Murry Hammond of Americana stalwarts the Old 97s and the Long Ryders’ own Stephen McCarthy.
There’s a helluva lot to like here and absolutely nothing to dislike; regardless of the way the songs change direction on a whim without ever challenging the listeners sensibilities or taste."
The Rocking Magpie - Read the complete review
The Venice West- Live Review (2022)
"The Long Ryders took The Venice West stage on full-throttle, tearing into “Tell it to the Judge on Sunday,” from their classic 1984 album Native Sons. No evidence of sea legs on this rainy night in Venice. Sid Griffin (guitar/vocals), Stephen McCarthy (guitar/vocals), and Greg Sowders (drums) have been together from the beginning. It was a love affair on stage and with the audience, a perfect distraction on the freakish election night. The set was peppered with songs from all points in their career, including an in-between song tribute to their fallen comrade, Tom Stevens by leader Griffin, who spoke some very kind words, and then led the crowd in chanting Tom! Tom! Tom!
Legendary rock musician/photographer Henry Diltz was there shooting and dancing. I felt honored to be rubbing shoulders with this luminary. He is a kind and friendly man. It was lovely and affirming to see his youthful passion for great music.
The Venice West is an intimate room with great site lines, and the sound was crisp, perfect for artists and the audience. It was fun to watch Griffin and McCarthy pass that beautiful blonde Rickenbacker 12-string back and forth between songs – they’re probably not doing that over at the Harry Styles gig at the Forum. It was over too soon when the show ended with their powerful anthem “Looking for Lewis and Clark” off of ’85’s State of our Union album."
Easy Reader - Read the complete review
Psychedelic Country Soul - Reviews
"The title of the band’s first new album in 30 years is a pretty apt description of what lies within — and what defined the Long Ryders during their 1980s heyday.
Founded as the so-called Paisley Underground movement was drawing national attention via Los Angeles bands the Bangles, Green on Red, Rain Parade, the Dream Syndicate and others, the Long Ryders combined distorted post-punk guitars with road-tested twang. Since their split in the late 1980s, the band has regrouped a number of times to perform and celebrate its legacy. Sid Griffin has issued records with his band the Coal Porters and written authoritative books on Bob Dylan and Gram Parsons.
In reuniting, Griffin said in a statement that “Psychedelic Country Rock” is “the album we were always trying to make.” Which is to say, it’s a tangle of country, folk-rock, soul and psychedelia. Featuring both rock songs (“The Sound,” “What the Eagle Sees”) and ballads (“Let it Fly,” “If You Want to See Me Cry”), the record sounds fantastic.
There’s a reason: the band reunited with producer Ed Stasium (Talking Heads, Motörhead, Smithereens), who captures with clarity the band’s dynamic textures (and the Bangles’ backing vocals). What arrives is an accomplished roots-music album that serves as a reminder of the band’s legacy."
LA Times - Read the complete review
"Founded in the combined insurrectionist spirit of punk, Folkways Records and the Declaration of Independence, the Long Ryders did not have a name for what they played the first time they came around, in the mid-Eighties. Now they have the perfect one. On Psychedelic Country Soul, the Ryders’ definitive lineup — singer-guitarists Sid Griffin and Stephen McCarthy, singer-bassist Tom Stevens and drummer Greg Sowders — set out again from a crossroads they invented on 1984’s Native Sons, where Nashville, ’77 London and the mid-Sixties Sunset Strip converge in songs of pioneer aspiration and outlaw bonding. This time, add gangsta L.A. and CBGB to the intersection. The Ryders recorded their first album in more than three decades with an old friend, longtime Ramones producer Ed Stasium (who was at the board for the Ryders’ 1987 LP Two-Fisted Tales). And they did it at Dr. Dre’s studio, thanks to a former roadie, Larry Chatmon, who now works for the Beats mogul.
“I heard something once/And I’ve chased it ever since,” Griffin declares in “The Sound,” a galloping homage to mission affirmed across the album in the opening rush of “Greenville,” the all-for-one march “All Aboard” and the bracing wonder in “What the Eagle Sees.” The title track is a proper trip, dissolving at the end like a prairie-wind variation on the Rolling Stones’ Their Satanic Majesties Request. And there is one cover, Tom Petty’s “Walls,” done as if the Byrds had cut it first for 1966’s Fifth Dimension and dedicated to the late composer: “If modern music had a friend, he was it.” The Ryders are back to pick up their share of that load.
One more thing: Those who slammed the Long Ryders in 1986 for taking a one-time life-saving payment for their appearance in a television commercial for Miller Beer owe the band a huge, groveling apology. Licensing music for advertising is now stigma-free — not just accepted but coveted. But the Ryders, who took that deal to stay alive and in the ring to do the real work, paid dearly for it in self-righteous censure from critics, fans and fellow musicians. Even so, there is a line in this album’s credits, 33 years later: “The Long Ryders wish success and happiness to all bands.” Everyone else should be so generous and forgiving."
Rolling Stone - Read the complete review
"Country-rock as it should be
First album in more than 30 years and The Long Ryders gallop back as if nothing has changed. And indeed, it really hasn’t. It’s the same line-up – Sid Griffin, Stephen McCarthy, Greg Sowders and Tom Stevens – and it’s the same producer, Ed Stasium (Ramones et al) who directed their last set, 1987’s Two-Fisted Tales.
There are twin guitars – plenty of 12-string – leading the charge of rocking, rolling country of that Byrds-meets-the-Clash variety, LA with the spirit of London Town, that was so spine-tingling. And it’s all done with an element of elegance, an air of country gentlemen, that makes it all more beguiling than ever.
Starting with the freewheeling Greenville, it’s a set of 11 new songs plus a cover of Tom Petty’s Walls. And while the latter might be a tribute to a huge star, what’s difficult to understand is how The Long Ryders didn’t end up as big as Petty in the first place.
It’s irrepressible – the pop of Griffin’s Molly Somebody, the punk-tinged exhuberance of What The Eagle Sees, the gentle, acoustic Bells Of August and more.
There are touches of the Beatles here in the harmonies and the at times delicate guitars – and particularly the closing title track, a six-minute swirling country-pop anthem with its glorious hints of Eastern mysticism.
A masterful return from one of the great names in country-rock."
Maverick - Read the complete review
"Returning Legends
Its been 32 long years since their last studio album, but opener 'Greenville' blasts out of the speakers like The Long Ryders have never been away: a ponding beat, wailing guitars and Stephen McCarthy's aching vocals conveying a melody and lyrics that are simultaneously joyous and rueful. 'Let It Fly' slows the pace, with lap steel, mandolin and fiddle to the for as The Bangles' Debbi and Vicki Peterson assist on sweet harmonies. They're back later on a respectful cover of Tom Petty's 'Walls', while elsewhere the album veers from country ballads like Sid Griffin's 'If You Wanna See Me Cry; and McCarthy's Gram-channelling 'California State line' to the hard rock of 'What The Eagle Sees' that expresses anger and sadness at ecological devastation.
As the incense-tinged title track fades into a wistful approximation of a Satanic majesties out-take all we can say is it's great to have them back."
Shindig! - Read the complete review
"It's been a long time coming, but eleven finely tuned new songs plus a tender homage to Tom Petty on Walls has been well worth the wait from Sid Griffin's band of top players.
Brimming with melodic alt-country rock tinged classics, opener Greenville flies out of the speakers like a sonically fired Phoenix. Molly Somebody and What The Eagle Sees maintain the sure-fire hit altitude. Yet, it's the titular album closer that rings down the ages to the present like no other band. "
Daily Express - Read the complete review
"“Alternative Americana”? “Psychedelic Country Soul”? Dr. Dre? The only link that connects these unlikely bedfellows is the new album from The Long Ryders. The band’s first release in over three decades was recorded over a productive week at Dr. Dre’s LA studio, made possible by an old friend of the group, now Dre’s personal assistant. The Ryders’ classic line-up reconvened for a week of tracking with veteran producer/multi-instrumentalist Ed Stasium (mentioned in the notes as the “fifth Long Ryder”) in November, 2017. Why it has taken over a year to see the light of day isn’t clear, but with their timeless sound still intact — and arguably as potent as ever — old fans will be thrilled. Those unfamiliar with the West Coast twang-heavy quartet’s catalog will want to grab their old stuff to hear what they missed.
With three strong singer-songwriters and electric guitars a-strumming, The Long Ryders pick up where they left off in 1987 with their swan song, the superb Two Fisted Tales. These 11 originals and a terrific cover of Tom Petty’s “Walls” find a sweet spot between the Byrds, the Burritos, Buffalo Springfield, and the Bangles, with members of the two latter acts guesting on a few tunes. Add the dusky red dirt grit of The Band, especially prevalent on “Bells Of August” (which sounds so much like the Robbie Robertson-led outfit, you’d think it was an outtake from them), and you’ve got a twangy, rocking entry to The Long Ryders’ rather slim catalog that’s every bit as accomplished as anything they cranked out back in the ’80s."
"Tracks like McCarthy’s chiming “Gonna Make It Real” and Griffin’s sweeping “Molly Somebody” (written with Translator’s Steve Barton) are hooky and rootsy slabs of what always made The Long Ryders a cut above their contemporaries. Those familiar with Australian singer-songwriter Paul Kelly might recognize similarities to his music in the pedal steel guitar mid-tempo rocker “The Sound.”
The thumping opener “Greenville” makes a powerful lead-off to an album that’s not just an impressive follow-up to a career that fans thought was long over, but a splendid entry into the contemporary Americana field, one that The Long Ryders had an underappreciated hand in crafting."
American Songwriter - Read the complete review
""Psychedelic Country Soul" could have been the tagline on the Long Ryders' business cards in the 1980s, and the tag still fits 30 years on as they remain masters in combining all of the above.
The Long Ryders always opened their records with a bang before moving into more introspective and varied material, and their return to recording after a 30-year absence strikes as strong an opener. Psychedelic Country Soul lead track "Greenville" stands confidently alongside "Looking for Lewis & Clark" and "Gunslinger Man" as opening statements that get the blood pumping and the feet moving. And what follows is as good as anything the Long Ryders released back when they were helping to invent what we now call Americana.
Most reunion albums succeed, if they do, on the simplest of terms: if the reconstructed band can evoke a sound that connects to their fans' nostalgia of bygone days, then the reunion is deemed a success, the album gets played for a solid week or two, and then takes its place on the shelf among the better-known work where it stays, mostly unplayed but a permanent part of the collection because we fans tend towards completism. Such is not going to be the fate of Psychedelic Country Soul. This album doesn't just sound like the Long Ryders used to sound 30 years ago; it sounds like the Long Ryders never left us to begin with. The playing and songwriting here is as strong as ever. Hopefully, Psychedelic Country Soul signals a lasting reunion.
The album's 12 songs flow together to create an old-school full album experience. This is a record to pop into the car CD player on repeat for a long sing-along journey. "Let It Fly" is a brief and beautiful piece of melancholy, while the ballad "If You Want to See Me Cry" could have been recorded in 1987, or 1967; it's just plain timeless. Similarly, "California State Line" tells a mournful story of searching for a place to belong that is as old as the West. Meanwhile "Gonna Make it Real" is a plain-spoken, uplifting love song and one of the album's best tracks.
The band welcomes some other 1980s stalwarts onto the album. Fellow Paisley Underground alumni Debbi and Vicki Peterson of the Bangles provide backing vocals on "Let It Fly" and Walls". Meanwhile on "Molly Somebody", Sid Griffin shares writing credit with Steve Barton, former leader of another prime '80s guitar band, Translator (who has himself enjoyed a comeback with 2017's expansive, three-CD release Tall Tales and Alibis).
Producer Ed Stasium provides crisp production that makes the band sound spontaneous and live, with Sid Griffin's distinctive voice (which shows no signs of age) in the front of the mix.
Psychedelic Country Soul is a triumphant return from a band that should have been bigger back in their first go-round. Maybe this time around they'll get the larger audience they deserve."
Popmatters - Read the complete review
"Kicking down the doors with the spirited opener “Greenville” and its jangly hooks, The Long Ryders announce their long-awaited return with Psychedelic Country Soul, their first album in over 30 years. Cooled by breezy harmonies and tuned into the Beach Boys’ fair-haired pop frequencies, it’s a star-spangled, roots-rock rodeo of crisp, polished twang from the urban cowboys, who settled into Los Angeles’ 1980s Paisley Underground of ’60s psychedelia worshippers and never left.
Cashing in a favor from a friend, The Long Ryders used Dr. Dre’s Los Angeles studio to record Psychedelic Country Soul with stunning clarity and warmth, the title neatly encapsulating the band’s ethos. Long ago, they predicted the rise of alternative-country, blazing a trail that stretched from the folky country-rock of The Byrds, Gram Parsons and Buffalo Springfield and back to The Beatles before stampeding through punk’s West Coast wasteland and passing the torch to the likes of the Old ’97s, Son Volt and Whiskeytown, among others.
Simply rehashing the past wouldn’t cut it for The Long Ryders, however, in their triumphant comeback. All the vintage elements that caused such a stir to begin with are here, but there’s something unmistakably modern and timely about the engaging and immaculately clean Psychedelic Country Soul. Ostensibly the fifth Long Ryder, Ed Stasium produced the album and added colorful touches of organs, harmonium and other instrumental odds and ends, as Psychedelic Country Soul emerges flush with timeless, big-hearted songwriting, vibrant rock ‘n roll, rustic Americana and countrified pop flourishes.
With its sparkling gleam, “The Sound” is a bright, upbeat charmer that’s as rousing and tight as “Greenville,” while the smooth “Molly Somebody” is audio black velvet and “Gonna Make It Real” breathes in the sweet, fresh air of The Jayhawks. The mid-tempo drawl and spit-shined chrome of “All Aboard” is as cranky as anything by Cracker or The Bottle Rockets. Aggressive riffs shake up “What the Eagle Sees” with garage-rock, maximum R&B energy. And before exiting with an expansive, trippy title track, Psychedelic Country Soul gently prods Tom Petty’s “Walls” to quicken its pace and dawdles and mourns over the wistful traditional country ballad “California State Line” with sweeping eloquence.
As taut as ever, while staking an even bigger tent to welcome more diverse instrumentation and influences, multi-instrumentalists Sid Griffin and Stephen McCarthy, bassist Tom Stevens and drummer/percussionist Greg Sowders seamlessly fit the pieces together on Psychedelic Country Soul. Aside from exquisite guitar interplay and a rhythm section that really hums, there’s a taste of pretty pedal steel from Hoyt Axton and Everly Brothers sideman Dave Perlman, and drawn-out violin from The Coal Porters’ Kerenza Peacock. Lovely backing vocals from The Bangles’ Vicki and Debbi Peterson and wafts of mandolin and harmonica only add to the richness of these proceedings. Long may you run, Long Ryders."
Elmore Magazine - Read the complete review
"Somebody really believes that Sid Griffin and his cohorts, AKA The Long Ryders deserve another shot at fame. Along with an album of completely new music titled Psychedelic Country Soul, there are two deluxe (re)issues (demos and live tracks) of their mid-Eighties best, State of The Union and Two-Fisted Tales. For the uninitiated, and there are quite a few of those, or for those that are of the opinion that The Long Ryders were just re-hashed version of The Byrds, this might seem to be overkill, even wondering whether bringing the band back serves any musical purpose.
Yet is not even a question for Larry Chatman, their long-time friend and a collaborator who made all this possible, and the band’s hardcore fans, including myself. While the band’s initial existence and later on, they were labeled many things, Paisley Underground, as in Eighties neo-West Coast psychedelic movement, Country, Soul Americana, rock revivalist, what not. Each of those by itself was not true, but all of them together were.
That could be the reason that Griffin and all the original band members (Stephen McCarthy, Tom Stevens, and Greg Sowders, along with producer Ed Stasium) opted for Psychedelic Country Soul as the album’s title because that is exactly what you get. And a bit more. Like the song of the same name and a tribute cover of Tom Petty’s Wall. And several genres and sub-genres you could name, all of which Sid and the guys could run through with ease even half asleep and still sound like The Long Ryders, a band was always about any music that sounds good.
A lot of that has to do with the playing and songwriting experience the band members have and with the fact that Griffin possesses an encyclopaedic knowledge of modern music (four books written behind his belt), so that an easy flying rocker like the opener “Greenville” or the sleek country of “California State Line”, for example not only sound great but as if they could have been composed and recorded anywhere between 1969 and 2019. To put it more precisely, they sound timeless. At least to these ears. Hopefully, to many others too."
Soundblab - Read the complete review
"The Long Ryders return and damn if they don’t sound as feisty and tuneful as they did back in the early ’80s! These guys were “alt-country” before somebody named it, and their first four records between 1983 and 1987 – 10-5-60, Native Sons, the landmark State of Our Union from 1985 and Two-Fisted Tales placed them in the upper pantheon of Americana bands with moments such as “Looking For Lewis & Clark”, “And She Rides” and “Run Dusty Run”, to name a few. Other than a few anthologies along the way, the band laid low until a reunion gig at the 2004 Glastonbury Festival, so Psychedelic Country Soul is a rare treat, coming after so many years.
What made the band stand out from their peers was an abundance of talent. When you have this many gifted songwriters and vocalists – Sid Griffin, Stephen McCarthy and Tom Stevens (along with drummer Greg Sowders), that’s a rarely equaled triple threat, and PCS hits the ground running with McCarthy’s “Greenville”. All of the hallmarks of the Long Ryders sound are still intact – loads of guitars, harmonies to die for, and hooks big enough to land a whale. Produced by “the fifth Long Ryder” Ed Stasium, the record sounds flawless from the rocking “California State Line” to the heartfelt “If You Want To Hear Me Cry” from Griffin, and the years melt away. The band pays homage to the late Tom Petty with a great version of his “Walls”, and when the title cut ends the record in sublimely trippy fashion, you can’t help but wonder what took these guys so long to reassemble?
But that’s beside the point. Psychedelic Country Soul is a continuation of the Long Ryders sound that recalls their earlier work without slavishly recreating it, and shows a band that still has the fire and spark of their youth, albeit with a touch of grey hair. But put a Telecaster around Griffin’s neck and its Los Angeles circa 1983 and it’s time for the next set. Welcome back gentlemen, we’ve missed you."
Ink 19 - Read the complete review
"As alt.country outriders of the Paisley Underground The Long Ryders have always been coy about doing what it says on the tin. So, while the epic closing title track has an insistent psychedelic groove, the predominant sound is rooted in the sole cover, of Tom Petty's "Walls" (with Debbi and Vicki Peterson of The Bangles on backing vocals).
Producer Ed Stasium ("the fifth Long Ryder") keeps the production crisp, melodic and controlled. The standout is "Bells Of August", and "I Shall Be Released" for the Trump meltdown."
Uncut - Read the complete review
"The Long Ryders, Psychedelic Country Soul (Omnivore) When the subject turns to either the Paisley Underground of early Alt-country, The Long Ryders have been consistently underappreciated (two 3CD sets released last year by Cherry Red expanding on classic LPs by the band have possibly somewhat reduced this situation).
This may not seem like a big deal, but in terms of Americana-rock, an argument can be made that this Los Angeles band invented the stuff (I understand that some may not consider that a positive). Rather than hash out the particulars here, instead let me dish a few words of approval of this vibrant and solid batch of fresh Long Ryders tunes, altogether strong enough to make some new fans while satisfying old ones. As good as the classic stuff? Not quite, but close. CD and digital only. B+"
The Vinyl District - Read the complete review
"There is a new album from the classic line-up of The Long Ryders and it's here. Psychedelic Country Soul, out today in America on Omnivore Recordings, and in the U.K. via Cherry Red, is the first new long-player from these cats in more than 30 years. That it sounds like they've never been gone should be read as a huge endorsement from this long-time fan.
The fine folks at Omnivore have, of course, been doing God's work with a carefully-chosen catalog of exemplary new releases and reissue projects, while the fine folks at Cherry Red recently put out that Long Ryders box-set I raved about, so the band's in good hands on both sides of the Atlantic. And, frankly, both labels are lucky to have this record as Psychedelic Country Soul is a refreshing reminder that roots rock never really went away, and that the genre's concerns are just as important today as they were in the Reagan era.
Opener "Greenville" kicks, the sort of tune that wouldn't have sounded out of place on State Of Our Union, for instance, while the lyrical "Molly Somebody" sees The Long Ryders expertly blend twang-y swatches of music with faint hints of the sort of thing that McGuinn once got away with in The Byrds. The band -- Sid Griffin, Stephen McCarthy, Tom Stevens, and Greg Sowders -- makes this stuff sound fresh, even as they seem to be reaffirming the vitality of the kind of tunes the players once cranked out to some levels of success in the college rock era. And if something like "Make It Real" sounds a bit like The Jayhawks, an astute listener realizes that that's 'cause The Jayhawks sounded a whole lot like The Long Ryders from the get-go!
Elsewhere on Psychedelic Country Soul, "What The Eagle Sees" rockets across the sky with real intent (special thanks to producer Ed Stasium for the heavy lifting on this one and others), while a nice cover of "Walls" from Tom Petty offers up a chance for half of The Bangles to provide some lovely backing vocals. After proving how vital they remain, The Long Ryders round out Psychedelic Country Soul with the cut that gives this record its name, a number that seems to touch on each of the styles in that song's title. The longer track also provides the four-piece a chance to indulge a bit, with the instrumental passages revealing an openness that may have been lacking on some of the earlier albums. It's a great way to finish off a really refreshingly powerful record."
A Pessimist Is Never Disappointed - Read the complete review
"The Long Ryders released three albums of near-flawless country-rock during the 1980s. The "buckskin" element of the Paisley Underground, the California-based band burned out rather than fade away. Thirty-two years later, the Long Ryders — in their classic formation — return.
As vigorous as they ever were, the reformed group appear at the top of their game, with youthful aggression replaced by measured maturity. Confidence runs through the album, giving it Heartbreakers' precision well before a dramatic rendering of Tom Petty's "Walls."
Produced by Ed Stasium (producer of 1987's Two-Fisted Tales) in an eight-day burst at Dr. Dre's Record One studio, with Psychedelic Country Soul, the Long Ryders show they are well-equipped to take a leading role in modern Americana.
With three capable vocalists, the album features diverse approaches to the band's jangle-rock. Stephen McCarthy's songs — empowering and soulful ("Greenville,") yearning ("California State Line,") and dreamily trippy ("Psychedelic Country Soul") — provide the album's accessible, country-laden backbone.
Tom Stevens has two lead vocals, the "Stage Fright"-evoking "Bells of August" and "Let It Fly," one of the album's highlights, and on which the Bangles' Debbi and Vicki Peterson appear.
As assured as Sid Griffin has always appeared, 30-plus years ago he couldn't have delivered "If You Want to See Me Cry," and the politically shaded "All Aboard," with the poised restraint apparent here. His co-write with Stevens, "What the Eagle Sees," is challenging and sharply focused, while "Molly Somebody" provides the album's most acute ache.
"Gonna Make It Real," another McCarthy lead, has the smoothest of the group's vocalists singing, "It ain't so hard, to comprehend — now you know, how the story ends." The Long Ryders story shouldn't end here: they still have much to offer. (Omnivore) "
Exclaim - Read the complete review
"Alt-country-pionjärerna The Long Ryders återvänder med sin första skiva (och Sverige-turne senare i vår) på drygt 30 år. Och allt är sig verkligen inte helt likt, men nära på. När Sid Griffin fick erbjudandet att låna Dr Dres studio en dryg vecka var alla på, inklusive den "femte långryttaren", produ-centen Ed Stasium (Ramones, Kiss, Smithereens med flera). Växte man inte upp under 80-talet och var lite mer än medelintresserad av rock och alternativ musik, är det kanske lite svårt att förstå hur stort det här är. För oss som var med och ihärdigt har spelat "State of Our Union" och "Native Sons" gång på gång, är det hur mäk-tigt som helst.
Inte minst när det blev så här bra. Som fullängdare betraktad, är det kanske det mest hel-gjutna och jämna man gjort. Okej, det finns ingen Looking for Lewis and Clark på nya "Psychedelic Country Soul", men väl ett mycket gott hant-verk och en schysst mix av lite lugnare (viss övervikt) och snabbare material. Mest snabbfästande är inle-dande Greenville och mest Lewis and Clark-vibbar ger den snabba rockaren What the Eagle Sees. Molly Somebody i skönt midtempo tillhör också plattans starkare spår. Snyg-gaste snyftaren är nog ändå If You Want To See Me Cry, med akustisk gitarr och stråkar. I hård konkurrens med Califor-nia State Line...
Lägg till detta vacker stäm-sång från producent Stasium men framför allt delar av The Bangles, och det är svårt att inte vilja lyssna en gång till... och en till! "
HiFi Musik - Read the complete review
"So viel eminent melodisch inspi- rierter Country Rock war sehr lan nicht mehr. Produzent Ed Stasium rückte die Qualitäten der drei to sen Gitarristen und Sänger unter den vier Long Ryders in seinen Mixes ins beste Licht — schluch-zende Pedal Steel und Kerenza cock von den Coal Porters (drei als Gast) mit wunderbarem Spiel auf der Violine ebenfalls.
"Cali-fornia State Line" erinnert an das große Vorbild Gram Parsons. Mit fabelhaften Vokalarrangements (zwei der Bangles mit im Chor) ist Tom Pettys "The Wall" einer der mitreißenden Höhepunkte. Der epi-sche (auch der einzige psychedeli-sche) Titelsong ist hier die ambitio-nierteste Produktion. F. Sch."
Stereo - Read the complete review 
"...The title Psychedelic Country Soul seems a tad marketing driven, but it's pretty spot-on and the music within kicks ass. "Greenville" pops likes Rolling Stones country-rock, while "molly Somebody" is a brooding cut ready for adult-alternative radio. "All Aboard" has wall-to-wall guitar jangle, harkening to the Byrds and Flying Burrito Brothers, plus a snaring solo from Stevens.
The boys break out their acoustics for "The Bells Of August," a ballad with a wry lyric that hints at Gram Parsons, and sweet slide - it might be the best track on the album.
The title-track closer answers the fab four question "What if 'Tomorrow Never Knows' was a country song?" Surprisingly it works, with backward tracks over a loose acoustic jam and trippy lyrics, capping of the Long Ryders' strong comeback."
Vintage Guitar - Read the complete review
"The Long Ryders put themselves at the forefront of Americana, as part of the Paisley Underground scene in the 1980s. Since disbanding in 1987, and re-forming several times over the past 30 years, they return on record with a collection of psychedelic-tinged roots rock.
As someone self-admittedly new to the band, albeit a lover of Americana, this album is chock full of genres. Produced by Ed Stasium (returning from 1987 LP Two-Fisted Tales), and recorded in eight days at Dr. Dre’s Record One studio in Los Angeles, The Long Ryders reclaim the throne of roots rock. From alternative-tinged (the Petty-esque “Greenville”), to country (the road trip essence of “California State Line”), to the stellar Roger McGuinn-inspired “If You Want To See Me Cry”, there’s something for everyone on the album. It’s a collection of 12 songs that will without a doubt be great listening for any road trip, preferably in small towns.
The group stays firmly planted in roots rock on the album, but true to its title, they detour into psychedelia. “Molly Somebody” features castanets during the bluesy guitar solo, and a reverb-drenched vocal canon in the fade-out, while the title track is a full-out romp, almost like a rootsy “Tomorrow Never Knows”.
The standouts include the aforementioned “See Me Cry” and the title track, as well as the group’s heartfelt cover of Petty’s “Walls”, given a raga rock arrangement, elevated by harmony vocals from fellow Paisley Underground band The Bangles. The other songs are no slouches either — obviously inspired by Petty, Dylan, and the Byrds’ Gene Clark, the latter of whom worked with the band some 30 years ago. Each song contains sounds of a band having fun. There’s heartbreak, there’s stops along the way, there’s places like Mobile or the California state border, but at the heart of each song is the tightness of a band.
Lead singer Sid Griffin noted that Psychedelic Country Soul was “the album we were always trying to make.” With its wide range of instruments and emotions, there’s a calm in each song, the end of a road. “Take me down to Mobile/take me down tonight,” he sings in the first song, “I will be alright/I will be alright.”"
Spill Magazine - Read the complete review
