Langhorne Slim & The Law: The Way We Move

Langhorne Slim & The Law
The Way We Move
Ramseur Records [2012]









Fire Note Says: Langhorne Slim returns after 3 years with The Law and a fourth record that is solid and sincere right down to the last track!

Album Review:
Not that I am complaining but sometimes I get a bit overwhelmed with the new music that flows through the doors and everything starts to just get stale. That is when a record like The Way We Move from Langhorne Slim & The Law completely draws me in and puts me back in focus.

The Way We Move is Langhorne Slim's fourth LP and first to feature his band "The Law" in the moniker which is a no frills straight ahead rootsy folk-rock-Americana record that has plenty of upbeat live energy and loosely tells a story of a relationship going south. The fact that in the background here Langhorne Slim rolls through the emotions that everyone can identify with like surprise, then denial and finally the path of moving on truly engages the listener and makes the connection for album staying power.

Of course over The Way We Move's 41 minutes Langhorne Slim offers much more than the story here with his slightly weathered vocal as the title track kicks the record off with its saloon type rocker style that sways with stressed voice versus and rolls on with piano. The pick me up next track "Bad Luck" lays down the chorus "bad luck got in me but I will survive" which sets the tone on the album that even when things feel awful there is still a way out. Other tracks that help The Way We Move succeed are songs like the bluesy "Fire" with its memorable groove and the touching "Song For Sid" which is dedicated to his late grandfather as he asks several times "where do the great ones go when they're gone?"

From the fun 2 minute romp of "Two Crooked Hearts" to the emotional outpouring in "On The Attack" Langhorne Slim puts his all into The Way We Move. The Law definitely deserve billing here as the band is spot on in every track and give the album a true depth that sounds confident and focused. This is a record that just sounds great in just about every setting and even though it is completely removed from any gimmicks or tricky transitions it is one record that stands tall for doing it old school by supplying great written songs, emotional vocals and plenty of memorable rock moments that will keep you coming back to Langhorne Slim & The Law well after the record ends!

Key Tracks: "The Way We Move", "Fire", "Two Crooked Hearts", "Song For Sid"

Bands With Similar Fire:
Good Old War
The Gaslight Anthem
The Avett Brothers

Langhorne Slim: Be Set Free [Fire Note Review 10/22/09]
Langhorne Slim: Langhorne Slim [Fire Note Review 5/14/08]

Langhorne Slim Website
Langhorne Slim Facebook
Ramseur Records

-Reviewed by Christopher Anthony