Complete Recorded Works in Chronological Order Vol 1

Take a cursory glance at Complete Recorded Works and you’d be forgiven for thinking it was the latest release from Document Records – some obscure old-time trio from the 30s that had been recently unearthed. They certainly look the part. However, the Stumblers are in fact three young Bristolian multi-instrumentalists – Ruth Gordon, Liam Kirby and Daniel Weltman – who play banjo, fiddle, mandolin and harmonica. Rather like Sheesham, Lotus & Son in the US, they favour the one-microphone, one-take approach, and this album is an appropriately lo-fi affair. It suits their chaotic, ramshackle style, adding a patina of authenticity as they career across 14 obscure (‘Captain George, Has Your Money Come?’) and well-known (‘Soldier's Joy’) traditional old-time American tunes and songs.

All the performances are enjoyable in their own right, but the album does feel a little one-dimensional when listened to from start to finish. The fiddle-led instrumentals reveal them at their most confident, and the trance-inducing one-chord wonder that is ‘Boatin’ Up Sand on the Little Sandy’ stands out as particularly strong. The songs are packed with classic three-part harmonies and exist in an entirely different universe to the AutoTuned easy-listening of modern country. They do occasionally sing a little more flat than is comfortable, it must be said. But that doesn’t detract from the good-time charm of this album at its best.