The best thing about Wishful Thinking is the lack of ironic, tongue-in-cheek posturing. The Hot Club of Cowtown plays a sincere, honest blend of Western swing and hot Gypsy jazz that’s thankfully parody-free. The weakest thing about ’em is, sadly, the vocals, which are a bit thin for music this passionate. I found myself wishing more than once that they were an all-instrumental band, in fact. Luckily, the palpable sense of exuberance and the command of their instruments is almost enough for Elana James (fiddle, vocals), Whit Smith (guitar, vocals) and Jake Erwin (upright bassist) to get by on. And the vocals aren’t so bad that you’ll find yourself turning Wishful Thinking off, either. It’s obvious this band has the chops and experience to exhilarate an audience, whether live (they’ve appeared on such diverse stages as the Grand Ol’ Opry to the Glastonbury Festival to “Prairie Home Companion” to opening for as well as backing both Bob Dylan and Willie Nelson) or on record (this is their first new album in five years, and the first-ever with drums), which lend such a crackling energy to the proceedings you’ll wonder how they ever did without ’em. (Thirty Tigers, 2009)
