Harpers Road

Showing no signs of slowing down or easing back to retirement, Charlie Harper releases Harpers Road, an acoustic saunter down a leisurely road of traditional covers and Subs classics done to a very different beat indeed. Sure we’ve had an acoustic version of Subs releases previously, but not quite like this. A truly solo album of Charlie doing whatever Charlie wants.

Containing fourteen tracks of which over half are reimagined Subs classics from all over the band’s career, tracks like ‘C.I.D’ and ‘Stranglehold’ pepper side one. ‘Roll In My Sweet Baby’s Arms’ is a campfire hoedown with a very traditional performance. ‘Bottle Of Wine’ is more of the same, complete with fiddle courtesy of Duncan Menzie. Some traditional fuzzed up swampy blues in the shape of ‘Diving Duck Blues’ where Charlie gets to wheeze his harmonica.

Now Subs fans will have a hoot with these reworkings of ‘C.I.D.’, pretty much faithful to the electric version but the polar opposite., ‘Stranglehold’ is a campfire jam whilst ‘I Live In A Car’ is more a trad blues lick slowed down and knocked out on the porch in downtown Brighton, complete with hilarious ott police sirens for good measure.