LITTLE JOHNNY ENGLAND : Tournament Of Shadows

Nov 29 2009 by Paul Cole, Sunday Mercury

LITTLE JOHNNY ENGLAND

Tournament Of Shadows

(Talking Elephant)

wBEEN looking for something to feed your Fairport fetish or Steeleye supper? Step forward mainstream folk-rockers Little Johnny England, five stellar session men who specialise in accessible pop grown from traditional roots. Songs such as Lily Of Barbary and Ginger Billy are a gourmet take on folk club fayre, while a madcap medley of Jack’s Polka, Alexa’s Hornpipe and A Reel For Kelly showcase instrumental derring-do. But Cutthroats, Crooks And Conmen is a contemporary rant about the selling off of 21st century Britain. PC