Broughton’s Rules – Bounty Hunter 1853

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The Western genre is undoubtedly one of America’s greatest contributions to world culture. The cowboy image forged since the turn of the 20th century has come to represent American ingenuity, stubbornness, and independence to the world at large. Western heroes have always needed great theme music, and the work of composers like Ennio Morricone and Elmer Bernstein were as important in forging the image of the cowboy as men like John Wayne and Clint Eastwood who portrayed them. Since the 1960s, musicians from all genres have tried to recreate the magic of those old, great Western scores, and the debut LP from a Pittsburgh band featuring ex-members of instru-metal fixtures Don Caballero and Blunderbuss calling itself Broughton’s Rules may come the closest yet for metal. Bounty Hunter 1853 exists at the crossroads between recent Earth albums and ’60s Morricone soundtracks, and it successfully evokes the imagery of the Old West, both in its dusty, windswept music and its excellent song titles – the title track, Ghost Heavy Days and 15 Seconds Before Dawn being three notable highlights. It only disappoints with its elements of electronica, as in the otherwise stellar Childhood Sun. Although I realize the hypocrisy in saying this when much of the album is driven by electric guitar, the electronic bits feel anachronistic, and they take away from the Western atmosphere. At the end of the day, Bounty Hunter 1853 is basically a heavy post-rock album, but its brilliant musical nods to the Old West demonstrate a level of respect for history – both musical and American – that is sorely missing from most such Morricone tributes.

Written by Brad Sanders
More: 2010, Albums, Post Rock/Metal, Quick.Play Reviews, Broughton's Rules