review by Mike Bond

HAYSEED DIXIE - I DON'T FEEL LIKE DANCIN' / HOLIDAYS IN THE SUN

" , I DON'T FEEL LIKE DANCING / HOLIDAYS IN THE SUN finds the band still banging out the same old joke, one that grew very old long ago. "

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I Don't Feel Like Dancin' / Holidays In The Sun COOKING VINYL

Whilst an unmistakably superb live experience and an initially funny idea, Hayseed Dixie are a band for whom the joke is now wearing very thin to say the least. Putting a bluegrass spin on their favourite songs, this is a band now reaching their seventh studio album with very little in the way of new ideas or inspirations.
Latest single I DON'T FEEL LIKE DANCIN' / HOLIDAYS IN THE SUN sees Hayseed Dixies tackling the Scissor Sisters and the Sex Pistols respectively and its very much business as usual, the band all duelling banjos, country guitar licks and drawling vocals. It's HOLIDAYS IN THE SUN that fares the best here, a surprisingly tender and restrained version of the song that almost warms you to their cause, though the ironic asides and winks to the camera soon remind you of the novelty factor at play here.
Another predictable and frankly dull sounding aside from Hayseed Dixie, I DON'T FEEL LIKE DANCING / HOLIDAYS IN THE SUN finds the band still banging out the same old joke, one that grew very old long ago.

BIOGRAPHY
Appalachian hell-raisers Hayseed Dixie will be releasing two download only tracks, I DON'T FEEL LIKE DANCING and HOLIDAYS IN THE SUN on Monday 12th March. Both tracks are taking from the band's forthcoming new album, WEAPONS OF GRASS DESTRUCTION (released 9th April), which features Hayseed's own material, alongside their unique interpretations of songs by the likes of Judas Priest, Status Quo and Cliff Richard, amongst others.
Below, Barley Scotch explains why the band chose to Dixie-ize these well known songs:
I DON'T FEEL LIKE DANCIN': The band heard Jeremy Vine play this song in November and thought it sounded like the Bee Gees and Elton John getting together and singing a song about unrequited love for George Michael. Turns out Elton co-wrote the song, so maybe that's exactly what it is. Our version was aimed more at the guitar player from The Donnas or maybe Lily Allen, but we like women...
HOLIDAYS IN THE SUN: I miss the Cold War. I think we all do really.
At least back then everyone had a clear and distinct picture of who was trying to whoop who. The Berlin wall was the concrete
(literally) symbol of this certainty, and this song sums up the longing for those times of old quite perfectly.

LINE UP
Barley Scotch

DISCOGRAPHY
I DON'T FEEL LIKE DANCIN' / HOLIDAYS IN THE SUN (Cooking Vinyl>2007) I Don't Feel Like Dancin'
Holidays In The Sun

LINKS
Hayseed Dixie>www.hayseed-dixie.com

FURTHER LISTENING
Scissor Sisters
Sex Pistols
Twang

Review date: April 2007