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AUGUST 2007: CD REVIEWS
Ben Elliot : Fairytales
“Give Yourself A Name” is the first offering here, and it
screams sophistication and quality. This artist comes somewhere between
the anthemic pop of Darren Hayes and the hard rock composition of Silverchair.
What sets this apart from previous work however is that this is a far
more introspective record in my book. “Four Days To Save The World”
is a mischievous and jazz infused effort, while “The Promise”
is again a powerful and overly infectious tune, the standout of the disk.
“And You Are?” sees Elliot pick up the pace, perhaps satirising
a dark concept with supreme songsmanship, and some great piano work. Here,
the song is very much open for interpretation, Is Elliot is telling a
story of the difficulties of different types of fame perhaps? Or perhaps
he is reflecting upon the situation he himself has found, as he is steadily
gaining more acclaim for his work. “Boy” is charming and haunting
at the same time, evoking the decadence of Silverchair’s latest
more classical sound.
Final track “Kicking The World” begins with a Nine Inch Nails
inspired rock stomp, and ascends into a proud, but inspirational chorus
that even U2 would be proud of. “I’m kicking the World from
my feet” he sings defiantly. He’s going it alone, and doing
rather well, I really want to see what this kid could do on a live setting.
Elliot continues to impress me, Heavy and melodic in equal measures, on
his second effort Ben Elliot will make you proud of York’s scene,
even if you haven’t heard from him yet. Check him out. For Fans
of: Silverchair, Panic At The Disco & Darren Hayes. www.myspace.com/benelliot.
dom smith
No pigeonhole is large enough to accept the truly eclectic sound of The
Summits. A beautifully perplexing sound that refuses to fit neatly into
a box marked ‘rock’, ‘funk’, ‘folk’,
‘soul’, ‘indie’ or ‘blues’, but make
no mistake, all are ticked, all are filled to the brim with unhinged invention.
They showboat with contrasting styles and soar to lofty heights with a
triumphant flourish of fuzzy guitars, smoky soulful vocals equipped with
fathomless depth and an avalanche of razor-edged drum beats. This is a
band full of influences, but they all combine to create something new
and suave. “Feels Good” is a fizzy, funky number with a surprising
rock twist, “Love Train” rattles along like deep south rolling
stock and “Carry Me Across” washes over with warm waves of
lachrymose, uplifting and bittersweet harmonics and “Stomp”
is punctuated with slamming blues riffs and boogie-woogie swagger. It
is a rare thing indeed to find a band that can give the elements of their
musical antecedents a thoroughly modern shakedown to create a flawlessly
fresh and enjoyable release from start to finish. Very, very, very good
indeed.
evil twin
The Alpha Waves : The Alpha Waves
“Cash Refund Please” is a raw and unadulterated rock tune,
chaotic and loud. The band find themselves somewhere between Modest Mouse
and Joy Division on here. The chorus seems a little out of place, but
that’s part of the charm. The disjointed element only adds to the
epic soundscape that is created by the wall of guitars.
“Bring Your Own Bottle” is light hearted and smooth, the band
sound like a modern Doors, while the vocals are hard to compare, whether
this is a good thing you will have to decide. This is 70’s TV soap-opera
music, or it is until the raucous chorus kicks in, again the band are
un-predictable but focused on this effort. Still, you can’t put
your finger on the type of sound that The Alpha Waves want to create.
“A Pony That Turned The Apple-Cart” is beautiful and introspective;
the vocals reflect a tormented and bleak reflection of past events. Though,
it appears to be very much open for interpretation. The band show a nice
element of diversity here, taking four minutes to pour their soul out
to you on record.
“FM” is the disks standout track without doubt, and contains
some catchy lyrics including “only a fool turns of the music when
there are dancers on the floor.” This is where the band excels,
lyrically they are powerful, and there is plenty of time to grow in terms
of creating a more mature sound. Though, this one will definitely tickle
your indie senses, you may even take off those ridiculously tight pants
and have a jive. “Dog Soldier” again contains the catchy lyricisms,
along with some fast paced punk drums and an overall more smooth delivery.
Go see these guys live, I think this material will speak volumes in a
live setting, as the band seem to give their all on this demo, but I anticipate
that their live performances are electric.
dom smith
Jess Gardham has been a rising talent on the Yorkshire Regional live
scene for several years and so nods of agreement greeted the announcement
to release her debut album of 14 original tracks. And it is a bit of a
gem, it must be said. Lyrically she is direct and emotive; taking acoustic
snapshots and telling tales, tales of real life and real people. She possesses
a rich vocal quality which rings of Tracy Chapman (although Jess commands
more melodic control), which has the ability to strum the heart strings
and give a burn behind the eyes on a few occasions). Always resting on
a simple acoustic guitar chord figure, the songs aren’t musically
adventurous yet are warmly and effectively arranged with her own backing
vocals, delicately placed percussion, synths and strings and Rob Van Sante’s
extra guitar work. The result we can enjoy is a mellow backdrop to the
lyric - you can sit , listen and meet the cast: ‘Daisy Rae’
and her torn life, You, Me, Her, Us and ours. I have a soft spot for this
well produced acoustic album which doesn’t so much stand as a cry
for the reaslisation of the better state of Human nature, but certainly
should be listened to for the strong reverb and emotion-drenched statement
of simplicity and visions of Hope, Loss, Ambition and Love. The final
track is a particularly lush live solo version of “Closer To You’
which brings the listener back to the way we know her - a live performer
with solo guitar and solo voice. Very good stuff indeed.
dean saint john
We’ve got plenty of spunky and spirited big riff original guitar
rock here which whips along at a fair pace. Six tracks which force their
way out of your speakers, with a more mellow instrumental bonus track,
this is a CD which I have often aired loudly across the PA at numerous
live rock shows and it is a good collection of head nodding numbers. This
EP is Fado Rock’s 4th self funded recording to date since 2002 and
it seems that they have a fair ear for an immediate upbeat style and,
importantly, a good guitar hook (check out ‘Come On Down’).
Opening title track ‘Our World’ has a raw punk edge to it
which engages well but by far my favourite of the CD is ‘Falling
50 Floors’ which features a cracking snare-on-the-beat call and
response chorus. Despite a couple of technical drawbacks - the slightly
keyboard heavy mix , thin string sounds and a few tuning issues with the
vocal - this EP shows that Fado Rock have a good energy and a firm grip
on their material, they just need to tighten up on their production values.
dean saint john
download the latest issue as a 20mb high res pdf
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