BOAT TO ROW emerge from lockdown with a fabulous new single, Quiet Place (Static Caravan). Written and recorded before pandemic got stuck in, so not themed about its enforced isolation but rather anxiety, depression and not getting lost in self-absorbed introspection at the expense of relating to others. Featuring Deborah Hutt on bass clarinet, it’s an uptempo, rippling melody number with echoey reverb guitar, shimmering keys and Michael King’s reedy vocals conjuring thoughts of early ISB and the watery pastoral folk of Nick Drake.
Veteran observers of the Birmingham music scene will recall that, having left the early Duran Duran line up, Stephen Duffy teamed up with TV Eye’s Dave Twist, Paul Adams and Dave Kusworth to form the Dylan-inspired named Obviously Five Believers and alongside fellow ex-Duranie bassist Simon Colley. Following a name change to The Subterranean Hawks, they eventually became THE HAWKS, recording just one Bob Lamb-produced single, Words Of Hope before call it a day in 1981 and going on their individual musical journeys.
Kusworth passed away unexpectedly last year, but not before he had been in contact with Duffy, as custodian of the band’s cassette archives, with a view to releasing an album. As literally the last thing he said to him, Duffy has now honoured Kusworth’s request and memory with Obviously 5 Believers (Seventeen Records), a 10-song collection (some of which were regulars in The Subterranean Hawks live shows) of what he refers to as blueprints rather than demos. Released at the end of the month, it’s, as you might expect, a somewhat ramshackle sounding affair with its share of somewhat flat sounding vocals, rambling late 70s slacker melodies with hints of folk influences (as on Aztec Moon) and psychedelic era influences. Opening with All The Sad Young Men (not, it must be said the young Duffy’s finest vocal hour), it proceeds through such numbers as the bass bolstered psychedelia Big Store (which, recorded in their earlier incarnation, actually has a hint of those early Duran days), chugging Colley showcase A Sense of Ending with its staccato guitar riffing, the poppy bounce of Bullfighter and, by way of musical tangents, the jazzy swing and undercurrents of Jazz Club that might well have been an early Police work out.
A jangling Serenade (which reminded me of the early Idle Race), the harmonica blowing 60s pop Something Soon and, mining a Spencer Davis bluesy groove, the sprawlingly rowdy What It Is! complete the package which, while likely of interest only to Birmingham music historians and ageing fans of their chaotic live shows, most certainly deserves to be out there as part of Kusworth’s legacy.
Underlining the adage that three’s a crowd, THE MASSES are a burly-looking Birmingham rock trio, guitarist-singer Ed Woolams, bassist Rishy Kumar and drummer Will Downs, whose self-released second single, Think For Yourself, reveals an infectious raspy vocal, driving bass lines, fierce distorted guitar all encased in a strong melody with engaging hooks. Decidedly one’s to keep a very close eye on.
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