I was just talking with some of my friends over the weekend about whatever’s in the water in upstate New York. Hailing from Woodstock, NY, Lara Hope and the Ark-Tones pack a rockabilly punch. Whatever my reservations about the changing Hudson Valley, there’s no question that these guys are the real deal.
There’s an undeniable sense of fun in Luck Maker that is hard to find in most rockabilly albums these days. Basically, Lara Hope and the Ark-Tones bring the sexy back to rockabilly. It’s not a kitten-ish Betty Page-style coyness that most rockabilly singers adopt. This is all about caterwauling in a tin-roofed roadhouse. “Whiskey Pick” is a raucous floor stomper that definitely sounds like something else (but since the lyric is “whiskey pick/all night long” I’m pretty sure it’s not a double entendre.) On the other hand, “I’ve Never” is a sweet love song packaged in a dance number. Hope’s vocal acrobatics are a pleasure that only the Ark-Tones’ manic energy can support. I guess that joie-de-vivre is the result of that country living.