Album Info
| Artist: | k.d. lang and the reclines |
| Album: | Angel With A Lariat |
| Released: | USA & Europe, 2020 |
Tracklist:
| A1 | Turn Me Round | 3:13 |
| A2 | High Time For A Detour | 4:09 |
| A3 | Diet Of Strange Places | 3:53 |
| A4 | Got The Bull By The Horns | 3:03 |
| A5 | Watch Your Step Polka | 2:01 |
| B1 | Rose Garden | 3:19 |
| B2 | Turn Into My Wave | 3:32 |
| B3 | Angel With A Lariat | 3:08 |
| B4 | Pay Dirt | 2:09 |
| B5 | Three Cigarettes In An Ashtray | 2:25 |
Info About Buying Vinyl From Our Record Store
- We are a small independent record store located at 91 Plenty Rd, Preston in Melbourne, Australia (North of Northcote, between Thornbury & Reservoir)
- We buy and sell new and used vinyl records - if you have a collection you'd like to sell please click here.
- We ship Australia wide for a flat rate of $10 for standard shipping or $15 for express post.
- Free Shipping for orders $150 and over.
- You can also pick up your order in store, just select Local Pickup at the checkout.
- We also ship internationally - prices vary depending on weight and location.
- We ship vinyls in thick, rigid carboard mailers with a crushable zone on either side, and for extra safety we bubble wrap the records.
- In stock vinyl is usally shipped next business day, please check the availability field at the top of the product page to see whether the record is currently in stock or if it is available from the supplier as well as estimated shipping times.
- If you order an in stock item together with a pre order or back order (listed as available from supplier rather than in stock) then the order will be shipped together when all items arrive. If you would like the in stock items shipped first please place two separate orders or contact us to arrange shipping items separately.
- We are strongly committed to customer satisfaction. If you experience any problems with your order contact us so we can rectify the situation. If the record arrives damaged or doesn't arrive we will cover the cost of replacing or returning the record.
- If you change your mind you have 30 days to return your record but you must cover the cost of returning it to the store.
- You can contact our Melbourne record shop at (03) 9939 3807 or at info@funkyduckvinyl.com
- Happy Listening!
Description
Angel with a Lariat hits like a bright jolt of twang and snap, the moment k.d. lang stepped from Canadian cult hero to an international contender. Released in 1987 on Sire and credited to k.d. lang and the Reclines, it sits right between her indie cowpunk roots and the classic Nashville turn she would make on Shadowland a year later. The band name itself nods to Patsy Cline, which fits, since this record catches lang mid-sprint toward a sound that respects tradition but refuses to play it safe.
Dave Edmunds produced it, and you can hear his rock and roll instincts in every tight drum fill and guitar stutter. Edmunds, known for Rockpile and his lean, unfussy approach with everyone from the Stray Cats to Nick Lowe, gives the album a clean, lived-in sheen. Nothing feels glossy. The guitars are wiry, the rhythm section is right on the front foot, and lang’s voice, already one of the great instruments in popular music, sails over the top with that mix of wink and ache that made her a star. You can put it on next to an old Sun single and a ’80s bar-band 45 and it holds its own.
You can also hear a performer sharpening her identity in real time. The wild streak from A Truly Western Experience is still here, with barroom energy and a little rockabilly rush, but the phrasing is more deliberate and the storytelling cuts deeper. Lang was already a keen student of classic country voices, and on this set she leans into that lineage without losing her edge. The title track is the calling card, a swaggering mission statement that balances lift and bite. Elsewhere the tempos kick, the harmonies flash, and the band keeps everything snappy, no wasted motion.
Part of the charm is how human it all sounds. Edmunds tends to track bands like he is catching lightning in the studio, and Angel with a Lariat benefits from that approach. You can feel musicians in a room, amps humming, a vocal take that prioritizes feeling over polish. That choice sets up the path to Shadowland, produced by Owen Bradley, where lang would go deeper into torch balladry and the classic Nashville sound. In 1987, though, she and the Reclines were still dancing on the fault line between honky-tonk and new wave bite, and it is a blast to hear.
This is also the record that began to turn heads outside Canada. Sire knew how to break left-of-center artists with a pop audience, and this release put her voice in front of listeners who might have only known country from the radio dial. The momentum here helped set the stage for the bigger breakthroughs to come, including the Grammy attention that followed in the next few years. If you love hearing an artist take that first big leap, this is essential.
On vinyl, the punch of this album really lands. The original Sire pressing gives the drums a little extra thump and lets the guitars breathe, and lang’s vocal takes sit in a sweet spot that flatters both the twang and the torch. If you collect k.d. lang vinyl, this one earns its shelf space, and it pairs beautifully with Shadowland and Absolute Torch and Twang for a full picture of her late eighties arc. Hunting for Angel with a Lariat vinyl is part of the fun too, since copies turn up in the wild with some regularity. I have stumbled on more than one in a Melbourne record store, and a quick scan of vinyl records Australia listings usually brings up a few options.
If you prefer to buy k.d. lang records online, keep an eye out for clean jackets and a well-cared-for inner sleeve, since the Sire stock of that era can scuff easily. Most k.d. lang albums on vinyl have aged well sonically, and this one is no exception. Drop the needle, and you get that rush of drums and guitar, then her voice right there in the room, confident and playful, already on the way to the classic records that would follow.
Angel with a Lariat may not be the album most people cite first in her catalog, but that is part of its charm. It is the bridge, the spark, the sound of a singular artist putting her stake in the ground and inviting the world to catch up. You can feel the joy of a band at full tilt and the focus of a singer who knows exactly what she has. That combination never goes out of style, especially on a well-loved piece of k.d. lang vinyl.
