As IDHAS uses September as catch up month for reviews, the realisation kicks in of how far behind you actually are. This splendid Red Skylark album was released on Ray Gianchetti's excellent Kool Kat label in April and Mr Tardy finally gets around to telling you all about it.
Red Skylark is the solo project of Columbus Ohio's Ed Shuttleworth and this collection gathers together both the 2015 album, Red Skylark 1 and this year's RunOn EP. This results in a cohesive 14 song affair that offers up plenty of great Pop Rock.
Collection 1 is incredibly melodic and beautifully produced. The Run On EP occupies the five opening songs and these are gentler riff led affairs. Run On is driving Pop Rock, very Per Gessle, whilst Two Shades Of Fine is all jangly and Soulfire Gone may be the best thing on the album with its hints of The Cult and killer riff.
The rest is just as good, but has far more of a Brit Pop and 60's Pop Rock feel, Love Airwave particularly so. Soft Soul has a real Psych Pop tint and Mother Faces could be The Who before it all got a bit too bombastic. Comedown even ventures into Mid 60's Beat territory.
Hey Precious Stone is another jangling joy and Bad Dream could be UK New Wave. There's so much to admire here. I hear Kula Shaker at times, even The Kinks and some of the Guitar Riffs are reminiscent of Alex Lifeson's first half of the Eighties, if not the material.
The album is also another triumph for the Kool Kat label. Ray seems to be single handedly keeping Physical releases alive and he has a fine ear. Red Skylark provide melodic Pop Rock of the highest order without ever needing to shatter your eardrums. Excellent!
You can order the CD from Kool Kat here. You can listen to both Red Skylark 1 and Run here. Both are also available for download at the Bandcamp site.
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As always, thank you Don! XXXX!!
ReplyDeleteBelated thanks for this...very grateful Don!
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