Record Label: On The Fiddle Recordings
Genre: Folk Rock
Band Link: link
Buy on Amazon.com

McDermott’s Two Hours’ latest album “Goodbye To the Madhouse” is the first release on the Levellers’ record label On The Fiddle Recordings. This must be a real honor for the Levs since they were heavily influenced by McDermott’s Two Hours. They have covered “Dirty Davey” on their self-titled album and covered Burbridge’s “Prisoner” on the “Make U Happy” single. Charlie Heather from the Levellers plays drums on this album. Jeremy Cunningham and Jon Sevink produced and mastered the album as well. Multi-instrumentalist Tim Cotterell also plays on the album as well as produces.

I never really listened to McDermott’s Two Hours before. Mainly because I’m over in the United States and it’s harder to discover British bands. But like with anything, there is always a way to listen to music you can’t get over here. Thankfully, the Levellers’ label sent me the CD to review because this folk rock album is really good! Nick Burbridge’s singing style and vocals are unique; it definitely stands out from the rest of the folk musicians. Besides the singing, the songs are put together well. There seems to be a lot of different instruments playing and it never sounds cluttered or messy. It just sounds right! The first two songs start the album off right. Then after that, you get some slower paced songs that sound equally as good.

I’m not sure if the band will like this, but I get a Jethro Tull feel from them (the Aqualung era). Not every song but there’s a few that remind me of early Tull. Maybe it’s just their British folk sound is what makes me think of Jethro Tull and other bands. I can’t really compare this album to their past work, but as far as this one is concerned; it’s an album I’ll be listening to a lot! I’m also looking forward to hearing more music from the Levellers’ record label as well.

Bottom Line: McDermott’s Two Hours’ newest album is folk-errific!
Notable Tracks: Molly, River, Crazy Jane’s Day Out, All Soul’s Night
Overall Rating: