2025 has been Westside Cowboy’s year. Since March, there has been a growing buzz around the Cowboys, following their debut single ‘I’ve Never Met Anyone I Thought I Could Really Love (Until I Met You)’.
Since that performance, their progression has been awe-inspiring, rapidly advancing upwards through the echelons of emerging indie bands. They won Glastonbury Festival’s Emerging Talent Competition in April; secured a record deal; went on a European tour with Black Country, New Road; announced a tour with Geese and went to New York City to record their new EP, So Much Country ‘Till We Get There. Despite all of this, surely their proudest achievement was playing Cardiff’s Clwb Ifor Bach this Friday with Devon’s Bramwell.
Bramwell opened, showcasing their aptitude for writing infectious mod-psychedelia anthems which infused the audience with the correct spirit going into the headline slot. Bramwell’s shimmering jangle sound, wound with irresistibly sweet melodies made for an act that you couldn’t help but love, setting an incredibly high standard from which to follow.
Westside Cowboy, however, were the band to delivered to their hype. The Manchester group’s brilliance is found in their talent for pursuing a similar Bramwellian songwriting philosophy of crafting songs with distinct hooks that captivate the listener and never let go, but blending it with crescendos of genuine emotional resonance. Their adopted phrase “Britainicana” summarises their eclectic sound, synthesising American country and rock influences.
I think back to a Paul McCartney interview, where he recalls playing ‘She Loves You’ to his father for the first time, singing “She loves you, yeah, yeah, yeah”. The Beatle proceeded to mention his father’s discontent regarding his son’s use of the Americanism, ‘yeah’, suggesting Paul sung ‘yes’ instead, which of course was rejected. The Beatles were among the first wave of British bands embracing Americana into their work, and Westside Cowboy are the next band in this lineage. The band unashamedly accepts their American influence but reinterprets it in a fresh and distinctly British manner.
This ‘Britishness’ bleeds through in various ways, but perhaps most plainly through Jimmy Bradbury’s self-deprecating lyricism. In a live setting, however, Westside Cowboy displays a different persona. They brought to the stage a clear confidence, rattling through their 14-song set with rapid pace. Their polish and professionalism shone through, radiating infectious energy in their performance and coolly navigating between breaks with witty remarks. They supplemented this with their satisfying guitar tones, quirky licks and instantly recognisable melodies that everyone could, and did sing along with.
A particular highlight was the closing song, ‘In the Morning’, which included a more stripped back, stomp-clamp sound, but not in the frankly cringe-inducing manner of the 2013 form of popular folk rock (Mumford and Sons comes to mind.) All four band members dropped their instruments and gathered around Paddy Murphy’s snare and sang together with the crowd in unison. It became a celebration, tapping into some ancestral nostalgia of gathering around a camp fire and sharing song and hymns, joining together in community and taking part in something instinctual, meaningful and warm together. It was the perfect climax to a thoroughly entertaining night of music.
Words by Thomas Hilll
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