Portland's Day Ricardo has fashioned up an outstanding Pop Rock album. The type that you used to hear in the 70s that everyone dissed and now say that they were always big fans. It isn't stuck in that decade, but it does remind you of it a lot.
In a long career, most notably with The Zags, it is as though everything has led to this. What is even remarkable is that everything is played by Ricardo. The album is so cohesive, bursting with melody, wonderfully arranged and performed.
F Natural is a great example of what makes the album special. On the surface, it appears to be a big easy listening song from 1975, but there are bursts of instrumentation that catch you surprise such as 60s Psych Pop Trumpets here.
The jauntier Easy similarly adds a spacey Telstar like organ. The Bad Old Days. with its dismay at the rise of the Right is great Piano Pop with a chorus to die for.and adds more of that wonderful trumpet song. Brain Drain is even rapid pace 60s Pop, a song that could appear on a TV cartoon show from the period.
Make That Go is perfect 60s UK Beat and Fountain Of Truth is built around a great Guitar Riff, part Glam Rock, part Surf. This is all set to a You Can't Hurry Love Rhythm track. Make That Go is more Beat Pop, but this time a little hand clap with a great Guitar sound.
The whole thing is splendid Guitar Pop on the whole. The songs feel very autobiographical without ever seeming to be " All About Me". The production is top notch too. This used to be the type of album reviewed by many of the numerous Blogs. One by one, those Blogs seemed to have disappeared which is as a shame as this an album that deserves masses of coverage.
You can listen to and buy the album here.
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