"Too much effort has been put into reinterpreting other artists' material instead of writing their own": The long wait for a new Lone Justice album may not have been worth it

Lone Justice: Viva Lone Justice cover art.

Despite the critical hype, hoopla and hosannas showered upon them, 80s country rockers Lone Justice never really broke through to a wide audience, instead leaving singer Maria McKee to find greater success as a solo singer (Show Me Heaven and If Love Is A Red Dress Hang Me In Rags) and songwriter (A Good Heart, a UK No.1 for Feargal Sharkey).

Now, 38 years after they split, the original line-up returns to their roots not just as purveyors of country music, but also as a covers band.

For all of the rollicking and rambling hoedowns – see their reading of George Jones’s Nothing Can Stop My Loving You - and Maria McKee’s heartfelt delivery of You Possess Me, the nagging sense remains that way too much effort has been put into reinterpreting other artists’ material instead of writing their own.

Is another version of Dolly Parton’s I Will Always Love You really necessary? Does The MC5’s Sister Anne need a country-swing makeover? And the cowpunk stampede through The Undertones’ Teenage Kicks is so incongruous that it needs lassoing.