Fay is rocking that Bobbie Gentry look like the pro she is…

Last month The Countess Of Fife; the new band formed by Fay Fife and Lord Mcdowall released a new live 4-track EP and Duncan from the comments secured a copy of the CD for each of us, and I reciprocated by buying us each the three DL only singles that preceded the EP. We’ve discussed the three singles, so now our attention turns to the live EP, which arrived yesterday.

The Countess OF Fife | UK | CD | 2020

The Countess Of Fife: Live UK – CD [2020]

1. Humans Are A Bad Breed
2. Take Me To The Grave With A Broken Heart
3. Angel In My Pocket
4. Don’t Dress Me Up

If the first song wasn’t one for our times, then I don’t know what else would be! The haunting interplay between Ms. Fife’s organ lamentations with Lord Mcdowall’s chunky, deep twang guitar set up the anguish of the lyric perfectly. I love how she decries people who are “possibly human” here. I have thoughts like that all of the time these days since there are so many things walking the earth who only look like humans. Their actions prove otherwise.

The jaunty country duet of “Take Me To The Grave With A Broken Heart” got off to a lively start with Lord Mcdowall trading verses with Fay over the powerful train rhythms from Lady Nora Noonan [drums] and Sir Thaddeus G. Pyecroft [bass]. This one was a country classic that skirted the edge of Matchbox-style rockabilly and some of the classic Johnny Cash sound from the band. The voices were glorious here as they nailed their aim of feisty country music before it got too far removed from its source. The breakdown in the middle eight was a thing of beauty.

The pensive “Angel In My Pocket” took a sidestep away from the guitar led sounds earlier with Fay’s organ leads taking center stage. The vocals here from all but bass player Pyecroft were powerful support for Fay’s lead vox. And the familiar “Don’t Dress Me Up” was the only song here that was not new to our ears, but it was still a great performance that really came across live. And they pulled off the unexpected cold ending of the song just as strongly. Play [and buy] it all below!

I was pleased to see that the band took the effort to actually have a CD fully manufactured for this release, as opposed to the CD-R that is common in the D.I.Y. market on Bandcamp. Sure, sure. I buy CD-Rs and gladly, but I’ll never have to worry about this disc failing to play over time. The glossy card sleeve also looks fabbo and the £5 cost for this one is a real bargain. Of course, it’s only £3.50 for a DL of MP3-lossless. The band wanted to get out this live EP in advance of their upcoming long player, so they’ve now got six songs out there in the wilds. It looks like their plan to establish a foothold in the classic country style of the late 60s is preceding apace. Now bring on that album. We’re all signed up!

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