JOHN FORD Bullets For Dreamers (Bumstead) Rating: NN Rating: NN
It was never uncommon for Vancouver’s John Ford to shift from a laid-back Neil Young Harvest-era twang into a raging Crazy Horse-type stomp, but some bigger changes have been made on Bullets For Dreamers. In a snap image make-over, the former country rockers have swapped their flannel shirts for motorcycle jackets, traded their pedal steel for skateboards and got new haircuts to affect a more marketable punk pose. Copping a new look and attitude would likely have been less of a problem for John Ford if they hadn’t dumbed down their songwriting — Stay Wit Choo? oy vey — and hired someone other than Gordie Johnson to produce the album. Maybe they can get k.d. lang to record their ska album next.