VELVET THUNDER

I wonder how many of you out there have heard of the Long Ryders? Not so many I suspect – although in the 80’s they played a key role in the development of American music, if not the wider music world! Formed in Los Angeles in the early 1980s, The Long Ryders helped lay the foundations of what would later become known as alternative country, blending the influences of Gram Parsons, The Byrds, Buffalo Springfield and punk rock energy into a sound that pre-dated the movement by nearly a decade. Their 1984 debut Native Sons was hailed by Rolling Stone as an album “where Nashville, ’77 London and the mid-60s Sunset Strip converge,” and their influence continues to echo across Americana and roots-rock scenes today. I am the happy owner of their sophomore 1985 full-length State of Our Union, which I’ve always loved for their sense of edgy, pacey, minor-key rock, so I’m fascinated to see how they’re shaping up a mere 40 years later….

High Noon Hymns is the title of their powerful new studio album, out now, it’s a follow-up to the critically acclaimed September November (I’d not realised that the band has continued to produce several quality albums, despite the depredations of time, age etc). This latest effort is produced by long-time collaborator Ed Stasium – famed for his historic work with the Ramones and previous Long Ryders albums, and he’s captured the band at their most assured, distilling decades of song-writing craft into a collection that is both reflective and forward-looking. Stasium’s résumé also includes classic recordings by the Smithereens, Soul Asylum, Motörhead, Marshall Crenshaw, Living Colour, the Hoodoo Gurus and Julian Cope – now there’s a mixed palette for you!

Founding member Sid Griffin describes the album as “two thirds the distilled alt-country genre we helped found back in the 1980s, one third Paisley Underground adventurism, with a dash of our own crazed soulfulness thrown in.” That’s a nice summary of what you’ll find on High Noon Hymns, where melodic immediacy meets lyrical depth across fourteen new songs. Sid plays a variety of stringed instruments, we also have Steven McCarthy on more guitars, and Greg Sowders on drums.

Following the passing of beloved bassist Tom Stevens, bass duties on High Noon Hymns are shared by Murry Hammond of Americana stalwarts Old 97s, and guitarist Stephen McCarthy (who also performs live with The Jayhawks and records with Dream Syndicate). There’s also some guest appearances, including DJ Bonebrake of punk legends X on vibes, and bluegrass prodigy Wyatt Ellis on mandolin….all human life is here!.

Four Winters Away kicks us off, and we’re straightaway into the band’s signature upbeat country-rock vibe. The voices are surprisingly robust, an immediate echo of “Looking for Lewis and Clark” in their delivery, not to mention that mix of Rickenbacher twangs and pacey rhythm. On first hearing this brief opener might sound just a little TOO “jingly”, but you soon realise these guys can still belt it out! World Without Fear is more meaty, it reminds me of Gram Parsons in the timbre of the singer’s voice (difficult to tell who sings what on here, they’ve all got good voices).

Stand A Little Further in the Fire is a good example of Sid’s down-to-earth, slightly world-weary lyrics, this could be early Stones in its rough, ragged chord-line. Sounds like it’s aimed at The Man in America more generally, but Trump in particular? Anyway, it rumbles along nicely. Ramona is straight-forward country-rock complete with steel pedal guitar. A tale of modern ethnic cleansing maybe, alluding to deportees and a “modern trail of tears” perhaps continuing the “Trumpian” theme?

How Do You Wanna Be Loved is an upbeat, bouncy (in every sense of the word!) tale of rumpy-pumpy: Jaunty with just a twist of nostalgia! Knoxville On The Line takes us back into familiar Long Ryders territory, i.e. Railroad tales. It’s another Byrds / Gram Parsons Country-led number, pleasant enough but I have to say I’m not the world’s biggest “straight country” fan, and it feels like the band can write these sort of songs in their sleep?

A Hymn For The City Of Angels is intriguing – a gentle enough “early Eagles strum-along” on the face of it, but the lyrics are far darker, recounting the sad state that Los Angeles appears to be in – and yet the singer obviously still loves it for being the place he calls home. Down To The Well is pure Byrds for me, Steve McCarthy producing a strong, timeless vocal with flavours of Roger McGuinn and Gram Parsons whilst still being his own man. Doubly timeless in that this could so easily be a track from Native Sons or State Of Our Union from all those years ago – amazing.

Wanted Man in Arkansas, on the other hand, meanders dangerously close to being (for me) “bog-standard country melancholy” – easily done, I guess, and the musicianship is fine, it’s just a bit run-of-the-mill, The Long Ryders for me are always better on the punchy pacey up-beat numbers – live in their early days being a not-to-be-missed event.

A Belief In Birds is more like it, a fairly light-hearted but genuine eulogy to our feathered friends (not often I get to say that in these reviews!) A rock back-beat drives this one along nicely. Rain In Your Eyes is strongly reminiscent of The Jayhawks at their best, minor chords prevailing in a proper country-rock number. Say Goodbye To Crying brings the mood down, still reminding me of The Jayhawks. A gentle, melodious track, lots of nice picking on here wedded to Sid’s timeless voice sounding just as it was 40 years ago – cant have consumed too much whiskey to still have that smoothness of delivery!

Forever Young brings the set to a close, an appropriate title for this band, it’s a cover of a Bob Dylan track that veers towards being a tad mawkish at times in the lyrics. It’s okay but it almost sounds like Harvest-era Neil Young and I was hoping for a more raunchy finale. Overall, it’s a collection leaning more towards mainstream country than the Alt-country Sid claims, pleasant enough but I remained searching for a touch of that more edgy, “Looking For Lewis And Clark” factor I loved back in the day.

Recorded at Kozy Tone Studios in sunny Poway, California, High Noon Hymns has its highs and lows but it’s still a statement of persistence, continuity and resilience – a modern Long Ryders album rooted in the spirit that first defined them, yet shaped by experience, loss and renewal. High Noon Hymns is now available CD and double vinyl.

The video below captures what the band sounded like live in 1985 (I remember that episode so well!) – and if that wets your appetite, the band are touring across Europe this summer, followed by a series of UK date in October….

The October 2026 UK Tour:

02/10 – Ropetackle Arts Centre Shoreham-by-Sea (UK) – Tickets

03/10 – Acapela Cardiff (Wales) – Tickets

04/10 – The Blakehay Theatre Weston-super-Mare (UK) – Tickets

06/10 – The Cavern Liverpool (UK) – Tickets

07/10 – The Cluny Newcastle (UK) – Tickets

08/10 – Brewery Arts Centre Kendal (UK) – Tickets

09/10 – Drygate Glasgow (Scotland) – Tickets

10/10 – The Old Woollen Leeds (UK) – Tickets

11/10 – Bread Shed Manchester (UK) – Tickets

13/10 – Metronome Nottingham (UK) – Tickets

14/10 – Town Hall Kidderminster (UK) – Tickets

15/10 – Electric Ballroom London (UK) – Tickets

16/10 – The Piper Hastings (UK) – Tickets

17/10 – Gulbenkian Arts Centre Canterbury (UK) – Tickets

18/10 – Papillon Southampton (UK) – Tickets

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Here’s a taste of their current live sound, the title track off High Noon Hymns: