HONEY I SHOT THE PRESIDENT are a new local four piece comprising singer Nathan on rhythm guitar, Jack on lead, Josh on bass and Brad on drums. They describe themselves as an eclectic rock band, which seems a fair description given their stylistic diversity. The recently released the earworm single On A Whim which with its circling guitar pattern and Nathan’s vocals called to mind REM and The Mighty Lemon Drops. They follow now with a debut 6-track EP, Cutting Corners, that shows a harder edge, opening with the riff-driving Devils In The Details while Here Comes The Kennedys has a punkier urgency sporting some pummelling drums and a blistering guitar solo. The swaggery blues rock Monroe has echoes of The Stranglers had they been reared on hard rock riffs while Porcelain Promise suggests some Deep Purple DNA and allows Guy to showcase his drum solo muscles. Shoot The Crows is more hard rock riffery with a bass line that had me thinking of Jack Bruce and it ends with the slightly poppier and melody-led 80s guitar rock and descending chords punch of Time, taken together a very impressive calling card.
It’s been nine years since OCS guitarist STEVE CRADDOCK last released a solo album, . but he returns now in a very different mode to his psychedelia-influenced previous albums, with A Soundtrack To An Imaginary Movie (Kundalini), a jazz, folk and classic inspired instrumental album that, variously featuring assorted family members and friends on gong, Tibetan singing bowls, piano, cello, violin, congas, flute and trombone ably demonstrates his multi-instrumentalist and compositional skills across the ten tracks where traces of Coltrane, Morricone, Satie Bacharach and Glass can be heard.
Each track named for a colour (most being obscure terms), it opens in serene fashion with the troubadour classical guitar work of Lapiz Lazuli featuring Joe Cox’s cello and Morricone hints, keeping things tranquil for Quercitron, Cox joined by Lila and Hugo Levingston on violin and flute respectively, the closing moments conjuring bird song and distant church bells.
Built around Hammond organ and featuring congas, Cochineal recalls the music from late 60s Italian reveries while Sarcoline sees the return of flute and comes with a late night, neon streets sax from the late Brian Travers. The first half ends with the floating ethereality of Annato that has a similar relaxed vibe to Fleetwood Mac’s Albatross, part two seeing his wife Sally on gongs and singing bowl for the eight-minute slow gathering meditational and minimalist Dragon’s Blood, a track that’s the equivalent of a wind spirit whispering quietly in your ear.
The Satie-like piano based Falu featuring son Cass is a true piece of keyboard magic that deserves prime exposure on Radio 3, followed by Fulvous, a showcase for Cox’s dark, droning cello and hints perhaps of Sibelius or Delius that conjures the build up to a gathering storm. Glaucus is another tentative notes piano piece complemented with sad, brooding cello and violin and it closes with the seven-minute orchestral sweep of Gunjo where the strings are joined by Tim Smart’s mellow trombone as it builds to a brief swell before the dying fall. Think Pasolini, de Sica, Visconti, Fellini, Bresson, Tavernier or, perhaps English director Terence Davies and you can build the film in your mind’s eye, this really deserves a showcase at the Town Hall.
SICKY has a new album due shortly and there’s a couple of tasters doing the rounds. The Bridge comes with a video that has it soundtracking Uma Thurman and John Travolta’s dance from Pulp Fiction, the track an upbeat chugging slice of catchy 70s pop with a percolating keyboard riff that recalls Doug Sahm and The Texas Tornados while, after a whirligig intro, Swim Shallow (Kitchen Dance Part Deux) rides a glam stomp swaggery handclap rhythm with a shadowy seam of menace to the breathy vocals and urgency. On this form, it could be his best and most commercial album yet.
And on the subject of glam, R.John Webb unleashes his DANDY THE VANDAL project, with debut album The Ingenious Gentleman Dandy The Vandal & The Godforsaken Sweethearts (Catch The Buzz Records). As you might have surmised with the nod to Dandy In The Underworld, Marc Bolan is a prime influence (though Ziggy and his Spiders are there too) and were he around I’m sure the bopping elf would have loved this. Described as having a Brexit backdrop and a dialogue with the 70s, it kicks off in surging manner with Coup Coup Collider where it’s apparent that T.Rex is but one of the touchstones, the pop particle collider also swirling together Roy Wood, Mud, Slade, Jerry Lee Lewis, Elvis and more. The strobe light swagger of Dandy The Vandal welcomes Bowie and The Stones to the party, followed by the Chic funk groove meets Robert Plant of Do Juan Don and the skittering Feel The Madness where Talking Heads get a look in.
A tip of the hat to 6os Spector (and a sniff of Bryan Ferry) arrives with the synth backed Small Island, then it’s the dreamy retro crooning balladry of The Moment You Love Me before everything gets thrown up in the air with Toast Gown, basically a cacophony of Margaret Thatcher samples, returning to Young Americans era Bowie for the simply irresistible funky grooved siren cry strobe-lit march We Are The Subterraneans. It ends in fine style with the chant rhythm and Hotlegs marching beat of We Belong To Her with its rousing synth anthemics, a glorious pinata of 70s pop and Dylan undertones waiting to be beaten open with a big listening stick. A cornucopia of affectionate reference points, it’s basically a 21ST century answer to The Dukes of Stratosphere and one of the best things you’ll hear this year. It gets an official launch on July 28 at the Hare & Hounds, and it promises to be night to tell the grandchildren about.
Not a solo artist, QUENTIN FRANCIS is in fact a four piece indie-pop outfit headed up by songwriter Matty George, with bassist Luke McCrohon, lead guitarist Ross Carley James Morris on drums. The latest self-released single is Work, a fine earworm number with Postcard era choppy guitars and swirling keys that, given decent headwind, could set then up as the next breakout act.
I was much impressed with the previous single from Birmingham trio THE MASSES and even more so with the latest, Inside My Head, a wheezing, riffing swagger and stomp of distorted guitar, handclap shuffle, raspily sung voodoo swampy Louisiana blues that has a similar vibe to John Kongos 1971 hit Tokoloshe Man by way of Dr John. An eventual album is highly anticipated.
No comments:
Post a Comment