I’ll Dream Alone – Pat Todd & The Rankoutsiders (Hound Gawd!)
A poster for the band’s current European tour bills Rankoutsiders frontman Pat Todd as “the most sincere man in rock and roll” and who are any of us to argue? He’s an unfailingly nice guy in person, too. The ninth album from the Los Angeles outfit fronted by the ex-Lazy Cowgirls singer finds him and his bandmates in compelling form as they deliver a dozen superbly crafted songs about life’s twists and turns.
Honesty is a much-used descriptor in music that’s hard to pin down. On the surface, it infers an absence of trickery. At its core, it means the ability to be relatable, connecting directly because a band is speaking the same language as its audience. Many try and most fail but Pat Todd & The Rankoutsiders do this consummately.
You can hear the influences clearly on this and every preceding record; the Stones, the Dolls, Dylan, the Heartbreakers and Chuck Berry. They’re all in the mix. Every song’s a story and the Rankoutsiders are a benchmark for every bar band in every boozy bolthole on this shrinking rock and roll planet.
When Pat Todd sings: “All I wanted to do was tell my own story/All I wanted to do was find my own way” in “Ambition Street” that’s as good a description of what the Rankoutiders do that you’ll find.
“Desire Has Left Town” opens the record in blazing style. It’s a lean rocker without an ounce of fat and it fits like a favourite pair of socks. Pat says the pulsating “Beyond The County” is the band’s attempt at soul beat and also works a treat. “Blood and Gunpowder” is a rip-roaring singalong pierced by stabbing well-articulated guitars.
Every Rankoutsiders record has its heartfelt ballad and “Mediocre Heart” fills the bill on this one. It’s pensive and brooding with some Johansen-style harmonica.
Its companion piece is “Can’t Get Arrested In This Town” on the LP’s second side. It’s a bittersweet sweet, down-home lament that’s less a call for attention than a concise summation of a finalised relationship. If this is an album of “closure songs” this one puts on the lid and seals it tight. Can’t wait to hear the rocking version alluded to ijn the liners.
Guitarist Nick Alexander steps up to the mic for “It Ain’t All My Fault” and delivers one of the best cuts on the LP. It’s as catchy as a cold in a Midwest winter and easier to latch onto than an LA taxi when you’re downtown.
The title track is an urgent rocker peppered with spicy licks from Alexander and six-string partner Kevin Keller. These guys are loose-tight in the truest Stones sense of the term and spar like the Heartbreakers without the slop (as endearing as that was).
“Night Beat” is a contender for the album’s signature song, with its undulating melody line, lyric about empty lies and concise guitar solo.
Pat Todd and the Rankoutsiders album are - without exception - a no-risk purchase. You don’t need to know much more than that. Honestly. 
1/2
