Q: If it looks like a country band, and it features country instruments, but patently isn’t country music, then what is it? A: The Southern Tenant Folk Union, of course. That’s not to say that there aren’t country influences in there – the likes of Never Got The Best Of Me and Let It Roll tick most of those boxes – but even there it’s not quite as clear-cut. Folk’s a better description (what is country music if not just folk music from Appalachia?) but folk is a much-maligned word sometimes, and doesn’t really pin down a ‘sound’ as such – try comparing King Creosote and Sandy Denny if you don’t agree. No More Hard Times (No More Trouble) sounds like it came straight out of the Dustbowl in 1932, however on standout track Cocaine, they could be a Gomez/early Fleetwood Mac crossover with added gypsy flavour, so clearly that’s not true. Oh, the confusion. Luckily, it doesn’t matter what box you try to stuff them into, the STFU have enough verve, songwriting nous and musical chops to waft straight back out again. Catch them live if you can for the full experience.
