Reviewed by Mike Rimmer

This duo of Ben Bauman and Scott Riggan have spent the last five years working as an independent band in a close-but-no-cigar relationship with record labels. Now they have finally decided to call it a day, this collection of B-sides and odds and sods is their farewell. You shouldn't think that this is a barrel scraping exercise. Instead it just shows how much talent there was in The Nobodys, aided and abetted by Christian music veteran Randy Thomas. These aren't half baked demos but instead full blown, full on, whole band renditions that are surprising when you consider the acoustic pop of their former releases. This shows the band going in a much more muscular pop rock direction. "Pretty Girl" rides along on a wall of strident guitars whilst "Movin' To Mayberry" has a surprising jazzy pop feel. There's a new version of "Don't Cry (Goodnight Emily)" which was one of my favourite songs from last year's self-titled CD which sounds brilliant. There's a little bit of celebrity culture commentary on "Anywhere But Here" and there's a really vibey Christmas song called "Bethlehem" (buy now and be ready for next Christmas!) which is excellent. The album closes with a humorous country song about an image of Jesus appearing on "Arlene And Luther Gardner's Freezer". The perfect sign off from one of America's finest indie bands. I imagine it won't be long before one of the pair returns to record a new project. Maybe next time, success will beckon and they'll be The Somebodys. Great band.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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