The local talent keeps piling it on with this excellent EP from Fife’s David Latto Band. Blabber’n’Smoke reviewed Latto’s last album here saying it was a “fine slice of country influenced songs featuring some fine back porch picking and an excellent ear for the idiom.” Since then the band have been gigging hard and last summer they accompanied Blabber’n’Smoke hero Phil Lee on his European tour striking up a camaraderie with the pint sized, wise cracking, knife throwing self proclaimed Mighty King of Love. So much so that one of Lee’s songs is point man for the band’s latest foray, a four song EP released this week which they will be promoting on a mini tour of the central belt before they head off to the continent.
We Cannot Be Friends Anymore (from 2009’s So Long, It’s Been Good to Know You) shows Lee to be much more than a comedic songster with its Dylan like put down and wild mercury sound. The Latto band beef it up somewhat giving it a more pugnacious and defiant air as the guitars churn with Latto more accusatory than Lee, incensed rather than sarcastic. It’s a belter of a song and the band work it up to a fine climax. Here Today, Ghost Tomorrow brings us back to earth with a bump. Starting off with a melancholic voice and strummed guitar it soon shifts gear into a gently propulsive country shuffle with guitar shimmering in the background as Latto describes a ghost town of sorts as folk leave for brighter lights. As relevant to small town Scotland as a US troubadour singing about their homeland the badlands of Fife are commemorated here in a manner that James Yorkston might be proud of. Every Now And Then summons up some Caledonia soul with the band laying down a fine backbeat as Latto sings with some conviction although one can’t but regret the lack of some soulful horns which would add a Muscle Shoals touch. Long Time Coming wraps up the EP with a banjo backbone giving a fine rustic feel to a song of aspiration and vision that ripples from the speakers and offers evidence that Latto is growing into a fine songwriter as the song recalls the likes of Jackson Browne in his early years.

The EP’s a steal at only £5 from here while you can catch the band on these dates.

April 19th – Jubilee Hall, Burnturk, SCO

April 27th – Glad Café, Glasgow, SCO

May 9th- Summerhall, Edinburgh, SCO

June 28th- House Concert, Lincolnshire, ENG

June 29th – The Cask in Hand, Holbeach, ENG

July 1st – TBC, FRA

July 2nd – Metz en Fete, Metz,FRA

July 3rd – Le Lapin Blanc, Réding, FRA

July 4th – TBC, FRA

July 5th – Le Bouche a Oreille, Villenueve sur Yonne, FRA

July 6th – TBC, FRA

August 2nd- Moniaive Memorial Hall, SCO