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Thursday 28 March 2019
Telekinesis - Effluxion
Telekinesis is Seattle's Michael Benjamin Lerner and it's been four years since the fourth album, Ad Infinitum. Effluxion is less synth heavy and has developed into a sort of Beatles Piano Led Pop Rock that isn't a million miles away from Ben Folds.
Lerner is an ex LIPA Student, so maybe you'd expect a McCartney influence, but it's not that simple, Suburban Streetlight Drunk's jauntiness has a vocal reminiscent of current faves like Chris Church, there's nothing mind bogglingly adventurous here. it's just great Pop.
When it moves away from the Piano, it's just as good, Feel It In Your Bones is a fine slice of Psych Pop, A Place In The Sun is pure lat 70's New Wave Power Pop . Out For The Blood has a trippy Madchester / Screamadelica vibe. Effluxion is a White Album Nod.
It is the Piano Pop that shines through though. Cut The Quick is a melodic joy with it's cinematic backing and Like Nothing is at the hop. Running Like A River is a storming song, very 70's Pop Rock.and very good at it.
Effluxion is probably Telekinesis's most accessible album yet, not that what went before isn't great, it's just that Effluxion is more fully formed.
You can listen to and buy the album here. You can find out more about the artist here.
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Monday 25 March 2019
The Spirit Of Radio
This is the first of a series of articles under a general heading of "Where Are We Now". These will cover the Music scene over topics such as Promoters, Labels, Promotion, Retail etc and I start with Radio. My opinion is no more valid than others. Agree or disagree, I have just had a real frustration with these topics and if it's only to get this off my chest, then so be it.
The internet is to be congratulated and blamed for everything. For every sigh at the demise of Record Shops, CD, DVD and much more, there is a hurrah for the ability to access most music, converse with people and fellow fans and discover new music. There has also to be recognition that Youth generally drives most things and that they are never going to be as motivated about albums as generations before. They have instant access to whatever they want to listen to via Spotify and You Tube.
There are contradictions of course. The excitement of Vinyl and Cassette are surprising and probably this year's hot pants, just as it's bizarre to see people bemoaning the range in HMV and yet continually arguing that they shouldn't participate in record Store Day. But the point of Youth driving tastes and society changes is very relevant concerning Radio. Gone are the days of MW, FM or even DAB dictating anything. The Radio was a staple at work, now it's just as likely to be someone's Spotify Playlist.
So as Radio has become something that just may be listened to in the Car, so different ways of hearing music that we wouldn't normally listen to are available and the rise of Internet Radio and Related Podcasts is as good as it is bad. Getting played on "Radio" still means a lot to bands, but Internet Radio isn't the same thing, it doesn't have the same impact. An artist or band should equate the airplay to how it is affecting Sales.
Don't get me wrong, there are some fantastic Labour Of Love stations that truly believe in what they listen to and I'd like to think that IDHAS is one of those. There are some fantastic Internet Radio Shows. Take Psych for instance, a genre that may leave people cold, there is a Peel like quality to many of the shows on the net, you hear something that is a cacophany followed by something that is so melodic that it could be Radio 2. The important thing is that you hear something you like and that encourages you to buy or look further into the artist.
However, there is unfortunately a great deal of deception and a buyer beware sign across others. If I look at IDHAS, I listen to a lot of stuff, some sent to me, others recommended by other Bloggers and Journalists. My policy is that if I like it, I review it or play it, if I don't I ignore it. I get a lot of emails from both PR companies and Pluggers. Most I don't like, but I do listen to it all and I realise that the people who sent the email or song are working for an artist who has paid them to do that and that's absolutely fine. They are doing what the artist wants and sending their songs to people who might genuinely be interested.
There are also plenty of great PR people, the best of which know what you cover and know that there is a chance that you'll like it. Those people are a god send to artists, because they know their audience. I'm thinking of people like Shauna McLarnon, Billy James and Robert Vickers. There is also stuff that arrives from cut and paste pluggers that is just laughable. When have you heard Hip Hop or House on an IDHAS Show?
It's this plugging that is ruining what should be a joyous Internet Radio experience. The ability to listen to a show that might make you discover ten artists is something to treasure, but too many stations are not that. I have often thought that the best way to direct people to music that they may like is to form a Radio collaboration or collective. Listeners could go to that station at any time of day and know that they'd find something to listen to that they'd like. The reputation of the collective may grow and allow one or two of the presenters to break out into something more mainstream.
The problem with this idea it's that it is being ruined by Alliances that are doing this under false pretences. Part of that problem is the term "Indie". It covers too much, mainly everything that probably has a guitar on it and isn't on a major label, therefore virtually everything. These Alliances produce Charts that have no similarity to anything else on the internet, so how are they decided? My concern is that these are dictated by Pluggers and I know in some cases that the Pluggers own the stations.
An artist pays them to promote their single and they go back to the artist and say you've had 600 plays this week. You can bet that this is probably 30 plays on 20 stations all in with the same plugger. The artist gets no value for the money, they are led into a misconception that they are on the radio and getting popularity, yet this is relating to no sales. You might as well spend the money down the Pub. This is yet another example of the only people making money from the Independent scene are not musicians.
Then there are these ridiculous charts. You can spot them a mile off. They have a weekly Top 40 of artists that appear on similar related charts. Most of the artists are artists that I have never heard of or have and they haven't impressed. That's not saying that I am the arbiter of taste. I listen and review lots of different styles of music, but I'm known for Power Pop and Pop Rock. I know at least a dozen writers and DJ's from a similar field and know that they have never heard of these artists either. I know one band that few rate that appear on every one of these type of charts.
I know that when I produce an IDHAS show or write about an album that listeners may not have heard of the band, it's what I do. But I also know that the majority of these dozen people will have heard from them and we feed off one another. This isn't a bitch at anyone in particular, it's a frustration. However I would advise any artist to ask serious questions about any person or company who tells them they will get a lot of Radio Play. Ask how many copies of the single will it sell me and base your decision on that.
There is definitely a place for like minded Internet Stations, indeed I am about to join one at Woody Radio. But there are also a lot of charlatans. Video may have killed the Radio Star, but Plugging and Self Interest is killing Internet Radio and ensuring that Spotify get all the money. It's like Payola never went away.
This series about will continue next time with an article about Gigs. Another example where the musician doesn't get the money, but the Promoter does.
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Sunday 24 March 2019
I Don't Hear A Single Volume 64
Volume 64 is prepared and ready for your lugholes. Another splendid selection of audio joy.
20 songs to help you to put the Brexit Blues on the Back Burner. A massive thanks to Jim Moody for his superb technical skills, without whom this would not be possible.
The playlist details are on here and by clicking the Mixcloud tab. You can listen to the previous IDHAS Aural adventures on Mixcloud here.
You can listen by clicking on the link at the end of this post.
01 Stealers Wheel - Benediction
02 The Delaneys - Crown
03 David Mead - She Walks Like A Grown Woman
04 The Ragamuffins - Be Clever
05 David Paton - Some Other Time
06 The Embryos - Wasting All Your Time
07 David Brookings And The Average Lookings - I Grow Up Fast
08 Sports Team - Get Along
09 Martha - Heart Is Healing
10 Christopher Elam - The Idler
11 The Glimmer Stars - Feel It
12 Spiral Stairs - The Fool
13 Beauty Stab - Need You Around
14 Yorick van Norden and Anne Soldaat - The Door Into Summer
15 Dear Boy - Limelight
16 David Tolar - Halcyon Bridge
17 I Was A King - No Way Out
18 Quasar Wut-Wut - Withering Time
19 District 8 - All Is Forgiven
20 The Claypool Lennon Delirium - South Of Reality
IDHAS Volume 64 Mixcloud Link
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Saturday 23 March 2019
Sports Team - Keep Walking! EP
There's been a lot of talk about Harlesden's Sports Team over the past 12 months. The release of their second EP, Keep Walking, following on from last year's Winter Nets, shows that the six piece are no flash in the pan. It's as though the band are grabbing the UK's Indie scene by the throat and giving it "This Is How It's Done" shake.
These five songs gather tons of ideas and craft songs about the banal and minutiae into a poptastic affair. Creatively strong, they possess a great front man in the dapper, Alex Rice. There's also a difference to previous pretenders in the band's ability to cut it Live. Indeed they may be at their best on stage.
The lead song here is a magnificent peaen to the M5 Motorway, a song much praised by Steve Lamacq and something for me to agree with him for once. Get Along is the stand out here, to these ears, a real strum along, the vocal is a bit Brandon Flowers before he spent too long in the Synth Shop.
There's also a killer Bass riff on the hilarious, Ski Lifts, it's almost Cypress Hill. Casper is another gem, Rice comes across all Noo Yawk with it's lounge lizard vibe, almost Bowie like. There's plenty of comparisons present here, from Pulp to The Divine Comedy, but the overall feeling is one of pure joy. Perhaps Indie Pop will witness a revival and Sports Team may very well carry the lead banner.
You can listen to and buy the EP everywhere. The 12 Inch is particularly lovely.
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Beauty Stab - O Eden EP
On IDHAS. there can be a given impression that the youth of today are just regurgitating hipsters, a theory largely exaggerated by me and there is a reason for this. All around my local scene, I see large beards promoting bands that no one has heard of and when you actually listen to them, it's all mediocre wannabe Bunnymen.
People encourage my Adventures With Hipsters Themes, but the truth is this Brussel Sprout munching rubbish is ruining two vibrant cities, why put your X Box Controller down when music offers up this rubbish. So I always make a point of highlighting exceptions to this frustrating theme. One such example is Beauty Stab.
I've always admired Vukovar from a distance as a sort of Post Punk originality that you could dance to. Out of the ashes of that band come Beauty Stab, a sort of intelligent, non plinkity plonk Soft Cell for the Smartphone generation.
The title track has Dan Shea channelling Edwyn Collins, accompanied by a Duck Rock beat. It's wonderfully hypnotic. Shea croons like a torch singer and it's just ace. My good friend, Peter Fitzpatrick, who is the keeper of all things Synth Pop will absolutely love this.
Clothes is far more industrial, a sort of Depeche Mode go Goth. It has a splendid clunk click accompaniment. The gem here though, to these Can loving ears, is Need You Around, it's wonderfully atmospheric, almost Krautpop. It'll be interesting to hear it mixed with all the Power Pop and Psych on an upcoming I Don't Hear A Single Radio Show.
This is not the normal sort of music that you'd read about on IDHAS and that's what makes it so special. O Eden is an EP bustling with ideas that have been thought through. There are so many influences to be heard and yet it's so original. Well done Metal Postcard for bring this to the world.
You can listen to and buy this here.
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I Was A King - Slow Century
Norway's I Was A King return triumphantly and Norman Blake returns to the Producer's chair. The band's last collaboration with him on 2012's You Love It Here was a fine thing indeed. That album also benefited from Robyn Hitchcock's involvement. Slow Century has lots of similarities, although this is far more straight ahead Pop.
The Jangle count is still high, but the arrangements are much broader. It's definite in TFC laid back mode, but there are more similarities with Gretchen's Wheel. Tiny Dots has a lovely little twee keyboard riff, the title track is magnificently moody and No Way Out burst out unexpectedly.
The competing vocals of Anne Lise Frokedal and Frode Stromstad work beautifully and the quartet show that there is far more to them than twee jangle. The stripped down Folksong is inspired. Run is very Glasgow 1986 and all the better for it.
I prefer it when I Was A King lose the restraint and that's when you hear the real Teenage Famclub Sound on songs like all to short, Run and No Way Out which stands up with any current Jangle Rock that you'd care to name.
You can see the band live as support on the upcoming Teenage Fanclub European Tour. You can listen to and buy the album here.
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Friday 15 March 2019
I Don't Hear A Single Volume 63
Volume 63 is all cued up and ready to rock. (Insert Another Cliche here)
20 fine tunes for your listening delight. A massive thanks to Jim Moody for his superb technical skills, without whom this would not be possible.
The playlist details are on here and by clicking the Mixcloud tab. You can listen to the previous IDHAS Aural adventures on Mixcloud here.
You can listen by clicking on the link at the end of this post.
01 The Late Great - Sundown Surrender
02 The High Strung - Riots Of The Mind
03 Masked Intruder - Mine All Mine
04 Rainbow Danger Club - Homemade Rocket
05 Jeff Kelly - Moon Over Granada
06 Cats In Space - Narnia
07 Pictures - Can't Stop Loving
08 Pete Wain - Inner Voice
09 The Peggies - Kiminosei
10 Any Version Of Me - Thinking Of The Days
11 The Bobbleheads - I Really See You
12 The Covasettes - Like You
13 Paulusma - Crying Shame
14 Nezrok - Middle Ground
15 Victor Krummenacher - No One Left To Remember And No One Left To Tell
16 Lost Ships - Here's What You Could Have Won
17 Holiday Ghosts - Slipstream
18 Dave Paulson - Don't Let It Get You Down
19 Charms Against The Evil Eye - Oscar
20 Two Sheds Jackson - Weekend
IDHAS Volume 63 Mixcloud Link
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Saturday 9 March 2019
Smile From Tokyo - It Haunts
Brooklyn Quartet, Smile From Tokyo offer up a cracking new album with It Haunts. The album jingles and jangles just the right amount and there is some stunning Guitar solos that mark it out from the ordinary.
There's a hint of R.E.M at times, a far more melodic version and at the time the stream of consciousness lyrics fit splendidly with the chiming around it. Then there's This Ghost which is more Southern Country Rock.
There's a definite Husker Du feel here, particularly on Where Did You Go with it's high Fuzz quota. There's largely two halves to the album. The second half is more Acoustic driven which works well, particularly on the jangling California.
However the band are best when it gets a bit more frenetic. Particularly on Hard To Say with it's Cult like intro and Stay The Course which is ace Power Pop. I am highly impressed with what It Haunts provides and it continues the great start to the year.
You can but and preview the album from CD Baby here.
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The Late Great - Temporary Love Songs
The Late Great's second album is wrapped in a big big production. This is great Piano Rock, it reminds me in feel to the last Fast Romantics album. Main Man, Tor Thomassen's vocals are very Ricky Ross, if Ross was being backed by The E Street Band or Bruce Hornsby's Range.
There's a definite Deacon Blue feel, maybe even Cherry Ghost. Temporary Love Songs is a huge singalong affair. The album's pace rarely lets up, it's big in scope and yet again proves what a hot bed of Pop Rock, Norway is.
I must confess to a love of great Piano led Rock, but there's far more than just that here. Epics like Sundown Surrender and Another Trap don't let up and Born To Be Young is at thigh slapping pace. If Not Forever Girl has a great Organ background, again the Deacon Blue feel is high.
The handclaps on All You Got border towards Power Pop or even The Replacements. You really would expect this album to be out of the States. It's Norway and all the better for it. It's really loud for these Lo-Fi ears, but wonderfully so.
You can buy the album everywhere and really should. You can listen to samples on the likes of Amazon here. Plus it's on Spotify.
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The High Strung - Quiet Riots
I like to think that I have my ear to the ground, but I was gobsmacked to only just discover The High Strung. So much so, that I had to ask my great friend Keith Klingensmith of Futureman Records, who filled me in with the details.
To discover that this is the ninth album from the Detroit five piece, leaves me plenty to catch up on and I intend to do that sharpish. Quiet Riots is one of the best Psych Pop albums that I've heard in a long time and it's not stuck in that genre.
If You Wanna Roll is Grade A Power Pop, Summer Of Night is Campfire Jangle and Eavesdropped On Again is Merseybeat through and through. But it's the Psych Pop, with the emphasis on Pop, that appeals most. This really is wonderful stuff.
For those who haven't heard it on the Radio Show, Riots Of The Mind is an absolute gem of Sgt Pepper-esque Psych. Then there are joys like When I Lay My Egg with it's Relics like feel and Legion is like something from Head.
You'd expect a song like Goffin & King to be some sing along ballad, not a bit of it, it's li8ke something straight from Toytown, very Keith West, with a great instrumental break out. The whole thing sounds so Carnaby Street.
Quiet Riots is beautifully played, full of unexpected hooks and chord and tempo changes. It's only March, but this is one of the best things thus far this year. If ever you look at the label Psych Pop and think it's gonna be some weird shit, you should play this album, it's full of melodic greatness.
You can listen to and buy the album here. You can find out more about the band here.
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Pictures - Hysteria
I get into a lot of trouble when I talk about Oasis. It's not just the great debut and half a fine second album comments, it's the Oasis changed my life brigade that wade in. They sincerely believe that music was invented in 1994 in a way that Football began with The Premier League.
There are far worst bands of course, but it's the fawning on the Gallagher's recent albums that should cease. Noel is offering up Phoned In albums, whilst Liam is reinventing bland aided by Toytown lyrics.
Why do I mention this? Well take a listen to Hysteria and you'll realise what a Gallagher album should be like. Although the album cover may confuse you, Pictures are a four piece German band and this album is as good as anything Brit Pop produced.
Hysteria isn't blindingly original, but what is there is done beautifully. Songs are anthems with big choruses, at times a bit like Embrace with a decent vocalist. There is no doubt at all that Pictures deserve recognition. The album is so damn catchy.
What's also noticeable is that the album isn't front loaded like so many of the new breed and that could be the quality of the songs on offer. The Middle section of Roll Up, Can't Stop Loving and Because stands up with any Guitar Rock that you;s like name, hooks galore.
There's even a Lighter song to close the album with Don't Take Your Love Away. It's ace to see what used to be the norm, a big stage Rock album that actually has songs that you want to listen to than experimental rubbish. The main surprise is that Pictures are German, this sounds like such an English album and I defy anyone to be able to stop singing Can't Stop Loving.
You can listen to and buy this everywhere and you won't be disappointed if you do.
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Wednesday 6 March 2019
Vanilla - Mystik Knights of Tacoma
The return of Liar's Club in 2013 was one of the welcome surprises of that year and that album, Come And Go remains heavily played here. It is one of the most underrated Pop Rock albums of the past decade. There's been no Liar's Club since, but the band members have not gone away.
Scott McPherson has reappeared in Pop4 and the superb McPherson Grant, whilst Jayson Jarmon, Sean Gaffney and Dana Simms are part of Vanilla. That trio plus Gavin Guss and Mark Simmons offer up the band's third album aided by a who's who of Tacoma musicians. McPherson guests too.
Mystik Knights Of Tacoma is as excellent and varied as you'd expect from those involved. Great pop is bathed in a mixture of styles from Vaudeville to Pop Metal and all in between. Be Not Coy is the Everly Brothers, Bankside is a spooky Simon and Garfunkel, Monkey Punch could be The Tubes. You catch my drift about the variation?
Man Of The Moment is Bacharach, female vocal and all, Let's Call It A Day is early 60's Teen idol and March March Of The Mystik Knights is some type of Russian Surf. However it's the poppy psych of Sweetshop that stands out here, a storming 3 minutes of bubblegum joy.
It's hard to pick two songs that give a flavour of the album here, but I've tried. It would be best to go and listen to the whole album here and then buy it.
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The Dates - Ask Again Later
Garrett Goddard, as part of King Tuff and Personal And The Pizzas, is generally known for something far more noisy than this melodic gem. His solo outing on the magnificent Burger Records label lies, surprisingly, somewhere between Teenage Fanclub and Big Star.
There are also two covers amongst the ten songs, both of which are favourite songs of mine. The fleshed out sound on Stealers Wheel's Star and the fuzzy version of Buddy Holly's Love's Made A Fool Of You work beautifully, particularly the guitar on the latter.
Many bands are compared to Big Star and TFC, well The Dates virtually are them. Friday Night @ Vineland has an intro that is pure On The Street and Any Other Nite is Teenage Fanclub at their jangly best. The Dates are not just a wannabe tribute band though.
Tru Wolfpack is mopes beautifully, splendidly moody. Pennies 4 You could be the Bay City Rollers and the rocking Nervous could be the best thing on the album. However, Summer Girl again gets you thinking of Ardent Studios. Goddard's fragile melodic vocal suits the lo-fi nature of the album to a tee. The album is a great standalone listen.
You can listen to and buy the album here.
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Cats In Space - Day Trip To Narnia
Cats In Space are gloriously over the top and their third album shows no sign of this abating. Certainly. the magnificent opener, Narnia, has everything you'd want from a Pop Rock song across it's five minutes. A killer chorus and air guitar solo to delight all.
The band have been lumped in with the Melodic Rock brigade and that's unfair, this is far more than that, they are like every great FM band that you've ever known. Hints of ELO, Supertramp, Pilot, Queen etc. Sweet's Andy Scott guests on the AOR anthem, Hologram Man, which gives you some indication of what the band excel at.
The overall sound reminds me a lot of the underrated 70's outfit Trickster, but the arrangements are better, the sound is bigger and there is far more lyrical wit. There's the Vocal Harmony of Queen and the pomp of Kiss and there's a power ballad in Chasing Shadows which has a hint of Styx in it's composition.
Tragic Alter Ego and Silver And Gold are great singalongs and then there's The Story Of Johnny Rock, which is incredibly brave. The latter is a 27 minute, 7 part, concept based on the accompanying comic strip, a side long on the vinyl.
The album is a fun packed listen. The only hint of criticism I'd make is that the lead singles should maybe have been Narnia or Hologram Man, both seem more acessible to the masses, but that's just personal opinion.
Day Trip To Narnia is available everywhere and you should definitely dig it out. It takes that Melodic Rock label to a whole new level.
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Monday 4 March 2019
I Don't Hear A Single Volume 62
The third of our trilogy recorded last week. I know I say this often, but listening back earlier I concluded that, this is one of the best volumes ever. It encompasses what these things try toachieve, a great mix of songs, plenty of variation and considerable thought going into the song sequence.
19 corking tunes are present to take your mind off the Brexit and Trump catastrophes. A massive thanks to Jim Moody for his superb technical skills, without whom this would not be possible.
The playlist details are on here and by clicking the Mixcloud tab. You can listen to the previous IDHAS Aural adventures on Mixcloud here.
You can listen by clicking on the link at the end of this post.
01 Zombies Of The Stratosphere - Easy, Gene
02 The Voluptuals - You'd Be The First (To Die in the Zombie Apocalypse)
03 The Davenports - Don't Be Mad At Me
04 Asylums - When We Wake Up
05 Badfinger - Know One Knows
06 Duncan Lloyd - Dear O
07 Barely March - Nervous As I'll Ever Be
08 Nine Violets - Same Old Story
09 Bertling Noise Laboratories - Whisper Softly
10 The Golden Rail - The Sky is Always Blue
11 Braddock Station Garrison - Blockbuster
12 Hospital Job - Mount Rushmore
13 Sam Hoffman - Glencrest Lane
14 Pictures - Little Girl
15 Kai Danzberg - Where Can I Sleep
16 Jetboy - Born To Fly
17 The Morning Line - Given Up
18 Drew Beskin - Pharmacy Girl
19 The Metal Babies - Forty Minutes
IDHAS Volume 62 Mixcloud Link
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The Voluptuals - Terminal Patience
Chicago's The Voluptuals describe themselves as skirting along in the 4th dimension and that's a fairly good appreciation of what they do. Listening to Terminal Patience and I'm reminded of how I felt when I first heard The Sugarplastic.
It's not that they are directly like that band, although the magnificent You'd Be The First (To Die In The Zombie Apocalypse) is as close as you are ever gonna get. It's just that this is so far Left Field that it's off the scales.
A 1001 ideas are bursting to get out and once you've acknowledged one, you realise they've already moved through three others. There are plenty of hints of Bowie and early Roxy Music glam, yet there are glances at Devo and B-52's. I'm even more drawn to comparisons with Deaf School. Overall thought, this album is so damn inventive.
Track to track, you have no idea what's gonna hit you on first listen. Everybody Loves You is pure Oingo Boingo. Cosmic Gutter Boogie is a cross between The New York Dolls and The Cars. Violence At Hyperion is a UK New Wave Joy and Ne Plus Ultra is Mink De Ville with John Shuttleworth's Bontempi.
Across the album's half hour, you have nine wonderfully inventive epistles. As you reach the closing number, with your head still spinning at the wonder of it all, you hit Pseudogamy In Athens, the album's finale. You'd expect it to be different to everything else, because the other 8 songs have and you are hit by a meandering anthem, almost Classic Rock.
I can't express enough how impressed I am with Terminal Patience. It's an absolute crackerjack of an album. The best thing I've heard this year thus far. I look forward to hearing far more from this quartet. Well done all!
You can listen to and buy the album here.
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Saturday 2 March 2019
Rainbow Danger Club - Treehouse Empire
Rainbow Danger Club have been lobbed into the Prog Crowd and listening to the excellent new album. Treehouse Empire, you'd wonder why the hell why. The only semblance of Prog is the excellent The Day The Earth Stood Still which is the only noisy thing on the album and veers towards Psych Pop anyway.
The rest of this joyous album, is laid back Pop Rock and it's really really good, in fact much better than that. This is beautifully arranged Pop Rock with unexpected twists and turns. Formed in Shangai and relocated to Austin Texas, the band offer up a cracking listen.
From the hypnotic keyboard riff of the opener, Homemade Rocket, to the meandering So-Cal of the closer, Livin' The Dream, with it's Alan Parsons Project feel, this is one hell of an album. A song like Moon Song reminds me of Mr Big, the UK Mr Big, not the hair metal ones with it's haunting guitar.
There's a Christopher Cross feel to The Art Of Forgetting with it's haunting violin accompaniment and Sleeping Dogs is Wilco-esque. Friend Of A Foe is a sort of gunfighter ballad, very different to what's gone before and there's some great Tijuana Brass on it.
Enduring Love is almost a Torch song, it reminds me a lot of Cherry Ghost, as does Summer's End. The title track is the stand out for me, it's a slow build up that increases tempo and could be on any Mid 70's great Pop Rock album of choice.
Treehouse Empire is well worth your pennies and it's available at Name Your Price, so what have you got to lose? Don't expect the usual riff-o-rama that you hear here. This is mellow sit back stuff and all the better for it.
You can listen to and buy the album here.
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