Mr Mouray! are new to me, but Jaimie Vernon isn't. Jaimie, is a fine fellow writer, record label owner and inhabits the same music spheres as I do. He is a great, maybe the greatest, supporter of Canadian music and he is the bass player in Mr! Mouray.
So when he asked me to have a listen to this, to be honest, I wanted to like it and I certainly do. This is splendid 70s Pop Rock with melodic Guitar Pop at its heart. There is a wealth of variety but at the album's heart is wonderfully played chorus led joy.
Pretty In Ink is a great opener. The verse sounds a lot like John Dunbar and his John Sally Ride adventures. There's a lot in it, Riffs coming from all and surprise directions. It leaves a lot to live up to for the rest album, thankfully What's The Stouray doesn't falter.
Bromley Trolley is a mix of 60s UK Beat and 70s New Wave and Victoria's Park is wonderful Psych Pop. Whose Paying Now? is great Power Pop and Figure It Out even ventures into Merseybeat. You sense that Cats Can't Fly is the single, it presses all the right buttons.
There are two songs that particularly stand out for me. The Battle Of Agincourt borders on Prog and is certainly more progressive than what else is on show. Then there is the magnificent sprawling closer, Spider Monkeys On Mars. Almost 6 minutes of excellence.
A lot has been made of the recently defunct The Lickerish Quartet, but anything that they came up with is nowhere near as good as this. It is even a little Glam era Bowie. This quartet caught me completely by surprise. I am absolutely hooked.
You can listen to and buy the album here.
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thank you!
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