Search - Paul Burch, Wpa Ballclub :: Pan American Flash

At first, you'd figure Paul Burch to be just another retro-novelty act. After all, as the name of his swell band suggests, he records in a hillbilly style that fuses bits of World-War honky-tonk, swinging western bop, and Depression-era folk. But then you hear his songs and know this is more than cutesy nostalgia. In "Living, Forgiving," for example, Burch experiences crippling self-revelation after a lover leaves, confessing "The light that came through when you stepped aside nearly made me blind." Throughout this American reissue of a '96 European release, Burch peers inward to produce old-style music that feels completely contemporary. --David Cantwell