Pat Todd & Rankoutsiders
Holdin' Onto Trouble's Hand

THE REVIEW

Where the main street of the Rolling Stones meets the corner of 53rd and 3rd of the Ramones, there's the dust of Indiana's dirt roads. But Pat Todd starts with his version of "California Here I Come" ("Meet me where the sidewalk ends"), as if Route 66 was always there waiting for his battered van with the instruments inside. 

"Holdin Onto Troubles Hand" is the second work by Pat Todd with the Rank Outsiders where, after having archived but not forgotten the long-standing adventure of the Lazy Cowgirls,  our little great songwriter confirms himself rooted, anchored deep in the American roots.

Dirty country blues and raw rock 'n' roll from an underestimated talent, little-known and fatally not appreciated for what it's worth in sincerity, energy, and frankness. 20 songs pulled out from a set of a whopping 64 (some also dug up from his prolific past) after six months of work in the studio of Earle Mankey, guitarist of Sparks and also producer for Cramps, Concrete Blonde, Possum Dixon, etc.  that stitches together Hank Williams, Mick Jagger, and Dee Dee in a thread made of lonely roads and dusty-edge venues where you can park the pickup and find beer, whiskey, and rock as fuel until the next motel. A direct, no-frills sound and yes, exactly, not very original but performed in a way that comes from the heart and exudes Johnny Cash and New York Dolls together. For me, only Pat Todd can put together songs like these without tiring. 

And as Blaine Cartwright of the Nashville Pussy said "Pat Todd is the most sincere Rock 'n' Roll singer/songwriter on the planet. He makes the rest of us look like a bunch of fakers". And he's right.