The Council Wedding Band (great title!) is the debut EP from Edinburgh based rockers Tam’s Railways (also a great name!). Quite who Tam is and where his train tracks are to be located is a mystery, but one thing that cannot be questioned is the quality of this band, which shines throughout this cracking 5 track EP.

The band have been gigging for a while now all over Edinburgh that even included a two year resident slot at Citizen Smith, a pub on the notorious Rose Street (try the challenge!). Recently the band have been making forays elsewhere in Scotland and even in the North of England. Things really do seem to be picking up steam for Tam’s Railways. And when you listen to The Council Wedding Band, you can really see why. It’s packed full of toe tapping tunes, meaty guitar riffs, some soaring sing along choruses and epic melodies that you’ll be humming in the bat/shower/rag on a stick for days after.

If you could sum up Tam’s Railways with just one song then it would surely be the opening song on the EP, ‘Let’s Go To Town’. It starts off with a bass riff before a quiet vocal enters alongside some soft drumming, before the song detonates with some fantastic jangling guitar and group harmonies. The chorus is one just made to belted out by a crowd, beers in hand. The group vocals in the end portion of the song bring to memory some classic rock harmonising, in the style of Boston say, yet the band still manage to sound contemporary. The band put their strongest foot forward by opening their EP with perhaps their strongest tune.

Of course that isn’t to say that the rest of the EP isn’t up to much. Far from it! The country stylings of ‘Barrel Of Irony’, complete with harmonica, threaten to fatigue your toes from all the tapping they’ll be doing, and once more the gang vocals will have you singing along. The bass driven ‘Man Up The Stairs’ is a more emotional affair, not in the ‘booo-hooo’ sense but more of a rocking sense in that the feel and lyrics allude heavily to it, yet the pace and tone don’t suffer. Of course such a rocking band won’t dwell on such things for long and crank it right back up with ‘Cream Of The Crop’, that simply explodes from the speakers/headphones/gramophone etc, before going more quiet in the classic Pixies formula of loud/quiet/loud/quiet etc. A song about not growing up, or more precisely not bowing to the social expectations of maturity, it certainly strikes a chord but more importantly is just a fun song. The band close the EP with ‘Stay Wise’, and go out on a high note, with a driven rocking tune that delightfully manages to include many Scottish words and references as well as Strongbow (a fine upmarket alcoholic beverage for those who don’t know; goes well with caviar). A warning to, well stay wise (remaining grounded and not letting “the bastards grind you down”), ‘Stay Wise’ is a great song to close a very accomplished EP.

So that’s your lot. Tam’s Railways are a very fine young band indeed, who produce some great, fun music. In a time when so much mass produced, soul-less rubbish clogs the airways, it’s great to hear that the spirit of music is alive and well, and Tam’s Railways are a great reminder that music can be fun, loud and alive, yet still done with passion and soul. Well played lads.

The Council Wedding Band is out now and is available via the usual online retails (iTunes, Amazon, Spotify, Last FM etc) and from their website, the link for which is below along with their other online chat.

www.facebook.com/tamsrailwayspage

www.reverbnation.com/tamsrailways

www.twitter.com/tamsrailways

Stuart Manson