This album is fantastic. Simple. Perfect. Beautiful. Yr Money Or Yr Life is a mega debut from American alt-country trio, The Beauty Shop. Relative unknowns to our wee shores, they look set to be huge- this even got reviewed in the David Gray-loving, Tory wank-rag that is the Daily Mail for christs sake!!

The band name belies the truth about this record- it is UGLY; John Hurt ugly. Essentially a thirteen track tale of hating, drinking, fucking and death, drenched in thick, suffocating woe and sadness, this reeks of misery and despair like a lonely, rotting old lady. John Hoeffleur drawls like a man whos's been at rock bottom, bought the t-shirt, pissed all over it and is still wearing it. "Denver" oozes fatalist bitterness; "What good's a fantasy when you know it's fake?", whilst "I Got Issues" is a sardonic tribute to fucked up excess; "I made a mountain out of coke that i sniffed up my nose, i wrote fuck on all my clothes, cause thats the life i chose".

The Leonard Cohen and Handsome Family comparisons are easy reference points, but this is excellent in it's own right, without trying to sound like anyone else. Everyone that i have played this record to now owns a copy because it's SO GOOD. Essential.