ALBUM REVIEWS - UN TIT GOUT

New Orleans, LA, Dan Gilbert, June 2003 Lost Bayou Ramblers - Un 'Tit Gout - Independent When the Lost Bayou Ramblers decided it was time to record their debut album, they didn't book time in a studio; they set up a recording apparatus at their fishing camp in Milton, Louisiana and started wailing away. The perfect scenario for a true Cajun band, and I've gotta say that the results couldn't be more perfect. Like their friends and peers the Redstick Ramblers, the LBR hold a high regard for musical ancientry and effortlessly recall the spirits of Cajun kings of old such as Aldus Roger and Iry LeJeune, the only difference being that they feature an accordion in their sound and stick a bit closer to the traditional Cajun style. Much of their music has a distinctively rhythmic blues flavor ala Nathan Abshire, and not surprisingly they deliver an excellent rendition of Abshire's "French Blues." Speaking of Abshire, Roger and LeJeune, some of their greatest musical moments were when other genres began creeping into their dyed-in-the-wool French style, an exciting factor that most modern Cajun bands have shunned but that the Ramblers embrace wholeheartedly. Their fantastic original "Moi J'Connais Pas" commences with a sawing fiddle intro followed by a solid backbeat and loose vocals, the whole thing rendered with the same kind of ragged-but-right abandon that informs Hank Williams' "Honky Tonk Blues." This, along with other originals such as "Rainy Stomp" and traditional songs such as "Happy Hop" make Un 'Tit Gout one of the brightest stars on Acadiana's horizon in a long time.

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