Rum Runner

I have this one friend I always go to Amoeba with, who likes to buy random cds in teh clearance section, and she has found some pretty good stuff that way. Me, I have less faith in the random buy, though I have made some pretty good impulse buys, for what is in my pocketbook... wallet? But last time I went, I was browsing through the clearance clearance section, and I found this one cd that I decided to buy purely b/c it had the song "My Rifle, My Pony, and Me" I know it as the song from Rio Bravo that Dean Martin and Ricky Nelson sing, that I would watch the youtube clip over and over again to hear bc I didn't have the song (now I have it!), but I wasn't sure what it would sound like on an album by a band called Rum Runner in the majorbigtime clearance section. But it looked promising, was on sale, and the album was called In Gun's At Cyrano's which, I seemed to remember, was the title of a short story by Raymond Chandler. Good nough for me!

And it was really good! The song was the song from Rio Bravo, the title was meant as an allusion to Raymond Chandler. Rum Runner is from Calgary, Canada, they are a punk band incorporating some folk/bluesy rock n roll (I'm not very good at describing or comparing musical types, sorry), and I think they are pretty darn good.

I am really annoyed at myself for leaving the linear notes/lyrics at school, bc I'd really like to put some of them here. But some highlights are "My Rifle, My Pony, and Me" (though the vocals obviously aren't as polished as Dean's or Ricky's, as Rum Runner's vocals are good but rough) and "Glass Heart Roller" (lyrics are great-- Buster Keaton, and some other neat people mentioned-- I really wish I had the linear notes with me, bc they are kinda hard to catch). I also like "These Tiny Hours," "So Long Outsider," and "The Visitor" minds me of noir-y stories, lyrically/subject-wise. There are no songs that I don't like, so give them a listen.

"My Rifle, My Pony and Me" [Dean Martin and Ricky Nelson] here
Rum Runner myspace
get In Guns At Cyrano's here
on amazon here (except I paid about 3 dollars for it.....)