Tales of the New West

Hailing from San Diego, the Beat Farmers burst on the California music scene like a locomotive in the mid-1980s with amazing live shows. Their powerful combination of rock & roll, country, blues, and folk styles -- performed exquisitely tight -- was truly a wonder to behold. This, their first album, accurately captured the band's live intensity. Along with some glorious covers, notably "There She Goes Again" (Lou Reed) and "Never Goin' Back" (John Stewart), the band could write quite well too, with Paul Kamanski's "Bigger Stones" being the best example. This album is an extremely good snapshot of post-punk California rock & roll. ~ Matthew Greenwald