Beggar Joe above average

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IT BEGGARS belief that a band as effortlessly cool as Beggar Joe should be as unrecognised.
Because the Manchester band's bluesy acoustic lounge rock is like a chilled cucumber from the word go on their eponymous effort.
Singer Jon Kenzie's grizzled vocals, which sit halfway between Gomez and Ray LaMontagne, are the perfect foil for the group's steel string grooves on standouts like Ain't No Way and Evil Overcomes.
And while the diversions the group take - a touch of flamenco here, a little bebop there - are hit and miss, Beggar Joe deserves to see the group handed it on a plate, no questions asked.