What Rhymes With Cars And Girls - Tim Rogers & The Twinset

Label:	RooArt Records
Released:	1998
Highlights:	You’ve Been So Good To Me So Far I Left My Heart All Over The Place Arse Licking Lady From The North-West Happy Anniversary Under The Flight Path

Rating: 8/10


What Rhymes With Cars And Girls is Tim Roger’s debut solo album, which not surprisingly takes a totally different approach to the rock-pop stylings of his regular band, You Am I. With the help of The Twinset, Rogers has been able to bring his penchant for country influenced music to the fore; something that was not previously possible within the confines of You Am I. However, to label What Rhymes With Cars And Girls as a country album is not entirely accurate as the sound could just as easily be described as acoustic pop and folk rock.

Set to the pub sounds of clinking glasses and background chatter, What Rhymes With Cars And Girls opens with the delighfully drunken instrumental waltz, Bushell And A Peck, which sets the scene for the rest of the album. The first ‘real’ song of the album is the sparkling, You’ve Been So Good To Me So Far, a typically honest and uplifting song for which Rogers is famed. Tim displays his heart on his sleeve yet again for I Left My Heart All Over The Place, a more downbeat but brilliant song all the same, which explores the same territory as Heavy Heart. On the other hand You Just Do It For Me Friend is an infectious upbeat track driven by Jen Anderson’s violin. Arse Kickin’ Lady From The Northwest and Under The Flight Path, which were both originally You Am I B-sides, get resurrected here and are strong cuts. However, my favourite track is the purely magic Happy Anniversary with its brilliant muted trumpet solo and wistful, longing feel. Unfortunately, some of the remaining tracks, such as 28 and Hi, We’re The Support Band seem underdone and I can’t help but feel that this album was recorded just a touch prematurely. If this was a You Am I album, I’m sure these tracks wouldn’t have made the final cut. Subsequently What Rhymes With Cars And Girls doesn’t come across as being as ‘complete’ or as fullfilling as it could easily had been. Still, as the liner notes say, Tim Rogers wrote these songs because he can’t help himself and thankfully we’ve been given the opportunity to here them.


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