When LA’s Long Ryders first came to the UK from their relatively ambivalent homeland, blending western themes, punk attitude,
Americana pioneers’ last two studio LPs, boxed up with demos and live sets. psychedelic tinges and very strong haircuts, a mutual love affair was ignited. By 1985, their stomping, garage-hardened single Looking For Lewis & Clark had put them in the lower reaches of the singles chart.That’s one of the many tracks in the three-CD box of their second album, State Of OurUnion (8/10), that has retained the same indignant punch today, plus the kind of jangly Rickenbacker guitar solo that saw them lumped in with the west coast Paisley Underground scene. The Byrdsy beauty of Lights Of Downtown reminds you of how slightly artsier fellow travellers R.E.M. took similar influences and conquered the world, whereas the Long Ryders didn’t get the breaks.By 1987 and Two Fisted Tales(7/10), their final album (although they’re re-forming for a new one next year), major-label pressure had softened their sound slightly, in contrast to blazing demo versions of Gunslinger Man and Prairie Man and the strikingly poignant Harriet Tubman’s Gonna Carry Me Home.The third CD in each box features a live set. Both are potent performances, although the audience at the British show included with State Of Our Union is noticeably rowdier.The Long Ryders weren’t appreciated enough in their time, but these reissues provide a reminder, from an era when ‘Americana’ wasn’t even a word, that they left an enduring and important legacy.Johnny Sharp