Thirty kilometres north of Perth, sitting abandoned in the middle of a national park, is the eerie opening to the first railway tunnel built in Western Australia. Apart from a couple of plaques, there’s little detail of the tunnel’s bizarre past. The beautiful stretch of track was built in 1894 to service the state's newly booming goldfields, but if larger trains got caught up in it or moved too slowly, they could face a hazardous buildup of smoke and grit. At midnight on November 5, 1942, train driver Spencer Beer became so engulfed with fumes in the cavernous tunnel that he died at his levers, sending his engine crashing 250 yards back down the scarpe. What on earth, though, does all this have to do with a scintillating three-piece folk rock band from WA? Fifty years after Beer’s death Davey Craddock & The Spectacles stood at the site of this quirky chapter in WA history for the artwork on their new EP Going Home because it encapsulates so well the ideas on the release. It’s a recording about the world’s most isolated city still madly building to keep up with a boom, about the excitement and danger of speed, travel and movement, about mistakes, about living in a town with an elevated heartbeat, about yearning for simpler, slower times and about escaping it all and heading to the hills. With members from Abbe May and The Rockin’ Pneumonia, Kill Devil Hills and Split Seconds a part of their live and recording work, Davey Craddock & The Spectacles are gaining a reputation as a must-see band in Australia’s most exciting musical city. As a solo artist, Craddock has been playing alt-country and folk tunes of the highest order around Perth for the past eight years, catching the attention of Nashville heavyweights Old Crow Medicine Show who selected him as their support act when last in town. But it is on this record – featuring 2012 WAM Multi-Instrumentalist Of The Year Todd Pickett (Kill Devil Hills/former Abbe May & The Rockin Pneumonia) on drums and oohs and 2012 WAM Vocalist Of The Year Sean Pollard (Split Seconds) on bass and aahs – that his critically-acclaimed song writing has truly shone. With Pollard recently moving to Melbourne, The Spectacles now include ex-Rockin’ Pneumonia bass-slinger and WA music stalwart Pete Stone amongst their ranks. The follow up to 2009’s Introducing Davey Craddock, Going Home was recorded live to tape and with minimal fuss over three days at Studio Couch in North Fremantle by local musician and producer Dan Carroll. Piano protégé Tal Cohen, whose debut album recently received a four star review in The Australian, also plays keys on the EP. This, added to the rock-solid playing of The Spectacles brings an unmistakable live, honkytonk, bar room feel to a release that will appeal to fans of The Band, Justin Townes Earle, Tim Rogers and Wilco. Quite simply, it’s Spectacular. *** "Memorable and personal, Davey Craddock is a class act" Drum Media, Perth *** *** "The great harmonies show up again throughout the song as the twangy electric guitar chugs along and saloon style piano shows it’s face every so often. Plus a killer harmonica solo comes in to just put a bow on the whole thing – it’s mighty enjoyable." Yankee Calling Blog, Kansas *** *** "Craddock has a fantastic voice, pitched high and possessing a lilting swoon that suits his melodies perfectly. The rest of the EP shows they can play sparse and achingly beautiful on Ruby St and kick up a quick-fire country shuffle on Right Brain Holiday." *** Post To Wire Blog, Sydney ***