Somewhere west of the frantic folk-for-money thrash of Mumford and Sons but east of the rhinestones of the Nashville scene, beyond the oddly named British Americana movement and taking a left turn around the almost meaningless roots moniker, you will find the start of a forgotten highway. Jump in a car, preferably a Mustang with the top down, a crate of beer and a David Lynch soundtrack blasting out, drive until the sun goes down and you will come to a small roadside truck stop. This is the band that will be on in an hour.
Somehow Up Down Go Machine manage to swerve all the clichés whilst capturing a wonderful sense of pathos and theatre and the result is an ambient take on the southern, country-rock sound. The real standouts of the track are the things that don’t stand out at all…space, restraint and understatement. And it is these tools that they use both to create a drifting chill that washes through the music and also as a contrast to the big dynamics which occasionally punch through.
It just shows you that it isn’t about how much music you use to build a track, it is more about the passion, soul and emotion you imbue it with and Gambler has a whole pick-up truck’s worth of those qualities.