LEADFINGER - No Room At The Inn LP

Highly recommended.

“If you take a journey through the past 20 years of Australian underground rock’n’roll, chances are you’ll pass Stewart Cunningham in your travels. Now performing under his ”Leadfinger” nickname, Cunningham’s cult pedigree includes a stint with the Proton Energy Pills and Asteroid B-612. On No Room at the Inn, Cunningham confirms his status as one of Australia’s most underrated songwriters. On the opening track, You’re So Strange, Leadfinger imbues the front-bar southern comfort of Lynyrd Skynyrd with a Wollongong surf-rock sensibility. On Cruel City, he falls naturally into the role of swaggering guitar-rock icon, while Pretty Thing is a post-punk pop classic Nick Lowe would sell his songwriting soul to own. It’s time someone found room at the Australian rock’n’roll inn for Cunningham.” – (4 Stars) Patrick Emery

"MOST great rock ‘n’ roll is made out on the fringes but this latest album from Australian veteran Stewart ‘Leadfinger’ Cunningham packs such a punch that it deserves to come out from the underground. Fans of bands from The Masters’ Apprentices to HITS will love its greasy swagger, sure-footed songwriting and a sound that’s both rich and raw. This is a deep seam, back to the classic Stones records of the late ’60s on songs like You’re So Strange, with its gospel-charged backing vocal from Chloe West. Gimme The Future sports searing guitar work that threatens to shred speakers, and Cruel City pumps with the kind of intensity once found on Radio Birdman records. But there is also room for banjo on the dusty roads of the title tune, and the intense The Lonely Road is dedicated to Rory Gallagher. Anyone who ever heard the sparks flying on a record by the late Irish bluesman will recognise a soul brother in Leadfinger and his passionate tunes." - (4 Stars) Noel Mengel