About a year ago, a now good friend, Doug Hepburn came to see my band at Pivo Pivo. As he often did, he was breaking a fair sweat from toting his camera gear round Glasgow on a weekend evening trying to catch as many live acts as he can in the space of one night. As we were on quite early, part of the resulting conversation went something like this: I’m gonna stay and watch you guys then get of and catch Annie Stevenson” Oh aye (I said) who’s she?
At the time, I kind of assumed it was some singer, songwriter or the female lead in some over the top, look at me 3 piece…..I doubt I could have been further off the mark!
Annie Stevenson album cover
Since that night, events have conspired to prevent me from watching them live, despite a few attempts, family, finance, weather work and my own bands commitments have stopped me catching a gig so far, so imagine my joy when a shiny “not for resale” copy of their new album dropped onto the doormat at bandradar towers.
It’s always exciting getting free stuff that has “not for resale” written on it, it means you’ve got your hands on something that not many other folk have and being trusted to give it your best efforts on behalf of the folk that made it, so here goes!
I’ve had this CD on for a good few days now and before I even get into my musical preference or opinion, I have to say that even if this was the worst type of music I could imagine (and it’s far from that) that the playing and musicianship on this album is some of the most measured I’ve ever heard. I mean, these guys don’t miss a beat on the whole record! Being a musician myself, I’m always scrutinizing my own bands work and picking holes in it, and It’s not often you hear any band say that they’re 100% happy with the results of their efforts, but from a purely technical point of view these guys can have few complaints. Metronomic drums and bass accompanied by sharp rhythms are the order of the day here!
I stuck this on in the car on the way to work, but never got the benefit of it until I listened to it more intimately through the iPod and the home system, perhaps because the style of the band is pretty consistent, I think one could be forgiven for allowing the tracks to kind of merge into one another if you don’t give it your full attention over the first few listens to pick the individual hooks out of the songs. That said, there are some pretty unique tracks on board and more than a few hit me as stand out tracks.
Track listing
I wont bore you with a track by track analysis as this is a blog, not a full on review site, but I have to say, as with a lot of young Scots bands now, it seems they definitely pull from the experiences of living where and when they do and allow for the irony and comedy of the experience without letting it shine through too much, but there’s definately some in-jokes and life experience hidden in tracks like Boydie and Country Killer, the latter having a bit of a “Hole in my shoe” vibe about the opening barres, then developing into a uplifting and shiny ballad that promises to be even more uplifting at every turn. But the hook never comes to take this tune to the next level. That said, I kind of like the melancholy feel it has, and being a fairly short track none of the above really matters that much. Whereas Boydie is a full on pop/indie tune for those who like to Jig at gigs and sing along. This tune is about as simple as it gets, but its a cracker if you’re inclined to lose your mind at gigs! This song is also featured on the Glasgow Unsigned charity CD in aid of Yorkhill sick kids hospital.
I get a really heavy “Shed Seven” vibe off a fair bit this album, which is no bad thing. Tunes like Freedom Town with its punchy little brass fills and Bowie era Earl Slick style guitar licks offers something different from the record that I didn’t really see coming and “Original widescreen versions of ourselves” I could see as the soundtrack and closing credit tune for the “Guy finally gets the girl” scene in a Glasgow version of some crappy Jennifer Aniston style Rom Com. I don’t mean that in a derogatory sense either, as the melody really does have that uplifting “everything worked out in the end” feeling to it. Personally, this is one of the stand out tracks for me.
Now despite the fact that I REALLY like this band, I can’t help thinking that I shouldn’t pass opinion on this record until I’ve finished my quest to see them live? and I’ll tell you for why. On this record is a shitload of really involved vocal and instrumental commitment and a pile of very well written original material, but if I’m honest, I think there is a bit too much “Lo-Fi” on the final mix. It is a VERY good mix that lets you here all the facets that contribute to the compositions but when I hear the vocals on “TV took my soul” and guitar work on “get off the Street” and “I’m the one you hold” I can’t help thinking it could be a bit “thicker” but I think that’s more to do with me, as it all seems to fit very nicely as a package and one song follows the last one quite seamlessly. But when played live, I’m betting these same songs take on a whole new meaning.
Mon' then.........
So there you have it! In my opinion, this is a great album and should it be waved under your nose at a gig or online, and you have the money in the PayPal account or the cash in your pocket, you could do a LOT worse than to add this to your collection. It covers a fairly broad range of tastes from a slight Arctic Monkey stance, through a Beatles-esque Bowie tip (wtf) with a quick stop at the best of the less popular (but better) indie band offerings of the late 90′s whilst keeping a constant vain of originality that never really leaves the album. I turned it of feeling I had heard enough to make it a very enjoyable experience, but not gagging for more, although when it comes, I’ll be first in line with my bowl.
“Please Annie, can I have some more”
No comments:
Post a Comment