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Friday 13 May 2022

Vanilla - Sideshow

 


There is not enough Guitar Pop in the world. A genre that makes the bright days brighter and never seems to get the acclaim it deserves. Tacoma's Vanilla are masters of Intelligent Melodic Pop, inventive and catch all catchy.

No two songs ever sound the same, yet all contain unexpected twists and turns and centre on massive choruses. Sideshow does all this with ease, adding a wit and knowledge that makes their albums essential but never ever ordinary.



Sorry! is a classic slice of 60s Beat Pop, Rain is built around a killer Bass Riff, almost soul like but for the sweet sounding vocal. I Shall Be Re-Released contains about ten songs in one, wonderful Indie Pop, even a little bit XTC.

Lonely Was His Name could be a song from the Peaky Blinders soundtrack and The Truth Is Never True is very 60s 1964 UK Beat and End The Day is magnificently moody and melancholic, completely out of kilter with everything else on display here.



Ten Bells is a wonderful example of UK Toytown, a bit like The Flying Pickets doing Psych Pop. Many of you know how much I like Toytown, I hear no better recent example. Then there is the outstanding, It's Drunk And Raining, very Liar's Club and a perfect example of default Vanilla.

You know that you are never gonna hear a bad Vanilla album, but Sideshow is the top of the toppermost. Hooks aplenty, singalong choruses and a deft ability to be different without ever losing sight of the song. Wonderful!



You can listen to and buy the album here.


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