ALBUM REVIEW: DOM GLYNN & HIS SUNDAY BEST - THIS FAST LIFE IS KILLING ME

In an age where albums seem to be getting ever longer with more and more "Bonus" tracks, it is refreshing to see an artist release an album that comes in at just over 20 minutes. That is the duration of Dom Glynn & His Sunday Best's new album "This Fast Life Is Killing Me" yet it still boasts a fulsome ten tracks, they just don't hang around. Also don't mistake brevity for being in anyway substandard, these 10 little vignettes are rich with details, you may laugh, you may cry, perhaps both, however you'll never feel that you are in any way being short changed.

The subjects touched on are the normal vices of life, drinking, smoking and drugs while relationships also feature strongly however Dom more often than not approaches them from a different direction than you might imagine. The sound predominantly is your classic country sound, exquisite percussion throughout from Roman Xavier, complements each track, while Jack Trouble's bass proves to be equally adept. They are joined by 2 guitars, one being Laurence Kingston's telecaster, with one playing rhythm the other, the key riffs, joining Dom's vocals which adapt accordingly with the requirements of the character in the song.

Things kick off with the title track, a fast paced rocker which sets the scene for the album as Dom kicks off declaring he is living life to the max, and then some!

"I can't keep on living like I do

Drinking like prohibition's coming soon

Little white pills

Rolled up dollar bills

I can't keep on living like I do"

It's all played out over a fast shuffling drum beat, with the picked lead guitar finding the key riff

The chorus paints the dilemma perfectly, knowing it's bad but having so much fun it feels good. Dom's vocals seem to convey an element of sheer tiredness in them, especially on the pronunciation of "bed", while at the same time there's a sparkle that he could be game for more!

"This fast life is killing me

I've barely been to bed

When I'm up Lord I'm feeling free

I don't want it to ever end"

There's a great line that explains the reason for living to excess

"But moderation is only moderately fun!" - we've all been there in one form or another at some point.

The bouncy "If She's An Angel Straight From Heaven (Then I'm a Devil Straight From Hell)" plays out the good girl liking bad boy story, one as old as life itself. Dom makes no bones about how he is perceived and all but agrees

"If she's an angel straight from heaven

Then I'm a devil straight from hell

How we ended up together

Well the good Lord could only tell

And people say either she's insane

Or else she must be cursed

'Cause she's an angel deserving better

And I'm a devil deserving worse"

There are the disapproving parents who make their feelings known, and just as Dom's character seems totally irredeemable, there's a guitar solo before returning for the final verse that gives pause for thought.

"I've never made much money

And Lord knows how I've cried

But if love was golden honey

Then sweetness could I provide

If that makes me Mr Unworthy

Then show me where to sign

I'm just a worried poor boy

I love the girl that's mine"

The ominously sounding "Life Without Parole" ups the pace to its fastest yet, with Roman's speed percussion and an impressively picked electric guitar. It has an early Johnny Cash feel to it vocally, while the instrumentation is at its crisp most modern sounding.

"I’ve spent twenty five years in the jailhouse now

I don’t think I’ll ever walk free

I'm doing long time

Though I committed no crime

Why does the lord punish me?"

While the song never touches on the circumstances that put him there, other than them happening when he was young, it does paint a picture of someone who has become so conditioned to being in prison that he would probably not survive outside anyway. So he is condemned to live his life vicariously through the exploits of others who regale him when they visit.

"At night I dream about breaking free

But I don’t think I'd make it very far

Cause between me and you

I don’t know what I’d do

I'm so used to the steel of these bars"

The gloominess of the situation is perfectly counterbalanced by the upbeat sound of the backing.

Despite the downbeat title, "I Can't Seem To Stay Sober" is actually quite upbeat as it relays a mans struggle to stay sober, however no matter how many good deeds he performs, his reward always seems to be in alcohol. Whether carrying shopping for an old lady or rescuing a child from a burning building - where he ends up with a "Right good beering!", the result is the same. Accepting his fate - his final good deed is to help a bartender whose bar is closing down!

A total change of pace comes with "Hey Little Mama" which sees things get a little funky courtesy of Jack's bass, and its combination with Roman's inventive drumming. It probably contains the most redeemable character of the whole album and displays Dom's vocal talents at their sweetest.

"I’ve been working hard, getting home late

Never back before dark, but my baby waits

With a glass of red wine and one for me too

Hey little mama, I’m coming home to you"

Less redeemable is "Mr Clean and Mr Mean", a sort of bi polar Jeckyll and Hyde tale. Dom skillfully leads us down the route of assuming they are two different people.

"Mr Clean’s got one woman that he loves with all his heart

Mr Mean’s loves so many, he can’t tell them apart

Mr Clean he writes poems about whispers in the rain

Mr Means in someones kitchen, doing lines of cheap cocaine"

before revealing at the chorus

"Mr Clean, Mr Mean, I don’t know who I’ll be seeing

I’m waiting for tonight’s reveal

Who’s gonna be behind the steering wheel?"

Once again there's a bouncy tune playing out against a potentially dark set of lyrics. Dom carefully makes that opening verse seem that he is the narrator before the big chorus reveal.

The way that Dom addresses his nicotine fill as if it was a girl in a failing relationship on "I Loved You Cigarettes" is a little songwriting gem, covering their first encounter through to the final goodbye

"I loved you cigarettes

From the moment that we first met

That cursed kiss I can't forget

But I can't keep doing this duet

No, I've gotta let you know

I've gotta let you go

I'll miss your pretty red-haired glow

Your perfume staying on my clothes"

Even when the parting of the ways has come, like all strong relationships there's always the faint chance that the love could be rekindled and so there's almost an Orbison like quality to Dom's vocal as he sings "You belong with me"

The frantic pace of "Never Smile Again" covers the complicated feelings of heartbreak, just at supersonic speed. This is the man who cannot move on from his ex, even keeping track of her new partners.

"I’ve been feeling kinda lonesome

Feeling kinda blue

No I ain’t been having no fun

Not since I've been without you

I’ve been without you"

He is definitely a tortured soul

"I'll never smile again"

The classic country ballad "The Doghouse ( My Second Home), feels like it should be light hearted, after the opening verse, which makes the sadness of the later lyrics seem all the more cutting. No reasons are given for the tenancy at his metaphorical second abode, to know if it is justified or not.

"My second home, my second home

I first came here so long ago

Oh I try to be good

I get misunderstood

End up weeping and sleeping alone

At the doghouse, my second home"

The album closes inevitably at a rip roaring pace, with "Forever Stay The Night", the shortest track of the whole record at 1 minute 50 seconds and quite possibly the one totally redeemable character on the whole album, although it is only after finding the love of a good woman.

"I loved her from the moment that we kissed

I suddenly saw all that I had missed

There was before and there was after

Loneliness then laughter

I loved her from the moment that we kissed"

Dom's vocals have almost a suave sophistication about them as he portrays someone truly happy.

It's an album that flies by, it occasionally plays with the emotions, however most of all, it delivers the true craft of songwriting in tiny bite sized pieces of music. Throughout "This Life Is Killing Me", Dom is able to display the flaws and foibles of the human condition, however he leaves us with the eternal optimism that love conquers all.

There's also European Tour a well to support the album - https://www.domglynn.com/live

TOUR DATES

10 September 2026 – Album Launch Show, Hootananny, London, UK

20 September 2026 - Wild & Vri-j Festival, Ziewent, NL

23 September 2026 - Hoogmis, Edegem, BE

24 September 2026 - Alter, Mannheim, DE

25 September 2026 - Bahnhof, Bad Kötzting, DE

26 September 2026 - Buchholz Saloon, Altlandsberg, DE

28 September 2026 - The Shakespeare.Pub, Herdecke, DE

29 September 2026 - Erbse, Dillenburg, DE

30 September 2026 - Jolys - Live Music Bar (ex-Tonelli's), Leipzig, DE

04 October 2026 - Lokaal 42, Helmond, NL

05 October 2026 - Missy Sippy, Gent, BE

07 October 2026 - Campfire Concerts, Schoonloo, NL

08 October 2026 - 't Atrium, Herselt, BE

09 October 2026 - JH Aurora, Borgloon, BE

10 October 2026 - Nochtwache, Hamburg, DE

11 October 2026 - Zeester, Nijmegen, NL

02 November 2026 – Deaf Institute, Manchester, UK

03 November 2026 – Think Tank, Newcastle, UK

04 November 2026 – Kitchen Garden Café, Birmingham, UK

05 FortyFive Vinyl Café, York, UK

06 November 2026 Hyde Park Book Club, Leeds UK