With its easy blend of adult pop and narrative driven lyrics, Ewan MacFarlane’s debut solo album ‘Always Everlong’, released in 2021, set the Scottish singer songwriter on a very accessible musical path this year. Displaying the kind of talent that makes him appealing to a broad audience, it was easy to hear traces of Tom Petty in the title cut, but there was far more about the album’s maudlin moods that shared a heart with past works by fellow Scotsman Blue Rose Code, even without the material taking a pop/rock route rather than an obvious country influence. Whatever your take on it, the album – which took shape during the first lockdown of 2020 – couldn’t be any further removed from MacFarlane’s earlier recordings with Apollo 440.
Monthly Archives: December 2021
SONIC ANGELS – Up & Down EP
Garage punks Sonic Angels are billed as promising “high octane, lo-fi fun” on their self titled release from ’21. Those already familiar with the band will more than know what to expect from their music, but the fact that the band continue to plough a familiar, loud and fast furrow is actually something to celebrate. After all, when you do something so well, why mess with a winning formula?
VARIOUS ARTISTS – Red On Red Hots: Year One Compilation
Throughout their first year in business, Justine Couvault’s Red On Red Records gave a platform to various great underground bands. The acts were often of the power pop or garage rock variety, but the coming together of the label and the largely US based acts provided a lot of entertainment during its first twelve months and often felt like a sister project to the equally fun Rum Bar label.
A few digital releases by Justine And The Unclean continued to give their fans enjoyable hook-driven sounds beyond their two excellent full length/EP releases, and label favourites Kid Gulliver more than showed how old style power pop will never die. With these artists providing something of a backbone, the label couldn’t fail, but their first year brought so much more. ‘Red On Red Hots’ pulls together seventeen tracks from the Red On Red stable, placing the familiar with the new, creating a perfect introduction for anyone who hasn’t yet stumbled across any of their releases, as well as a treat for fans looking for a couple of new tracks.
THE MURDER OF MY SWEET – A Gentleman’s Legacy
Swedish rock band The Murder of My Sweet have never thought small. Over the years, their sound has straddled symphonic rock, pomp, metal and AOR in a way that has often seemed very self indulgent. When the focus is on hooks and songs, this shows off a musical collective that has great promise. When they become obsessed with pure theatrics (as per their ‘Beth Out of Hell’ concept album from 2015), they can be really hard to take. This, of course, can lead to a frustrating and inconsistent listening experience, especially if strong melodies get swamped by too much unnecessary bombast.
REAL GONE GOES OUT: Levellers – Hall By The Sea, Dreamland, Margate, Kent 8/12/2021
When the Levellers visited Margate on the ‘We The Collective’ tour in 2018, it coincided with one of the hottest days of the year. Dreamland’s Hall By The Sea was like an oven, but it didn’t stop the Saturday night crowd and the band giving their all. By comparison, their welcome return to the seaside town on a winter Wednesday couldn’t feel more different. Aside from the icy cold, inside and out, there’s not much in the way of obvious revelry. That’s understandable; most people are automatically more restrained on a “school night”, but its more than that. The global pandemic has given the slow return to gigs an uneasy atmosphere anyway, but this night has also been prefaced by Boris Johnson announcing another tightening up of restrictions, meaning that an already cagey mood is heightened by a nagging feeling that this big gathering might be the last for a while. Rather than using the night out cut loose in a carefree way, a lot of the assembled crowd seem rather tentative. It sort of makes sense. The world does feel like a powder keg. On the plus side, the unwelcome news – delivered in the Prime Minister’s usual bumbling fashion – has prompted someone on Twitter to liken him to a “sentient bag of custard”. The fact is, the world has changed since summer 2018. It might never be the same again. Nevertheless, Mark Chadwick, Jeremy Cunningham and company are here…and not before time.
This gig was supposed to take place in March 2020, so for many people it’s been a long wait. The delay has brought a couple of massive changes too. The planned ‘Peace’ tour – which would have showcased the then new album along with old favourites – has been replaced by the ‘Levelling The Land 30th Anniversary Tour’ and, due to unforeseen circumstances, guitarist/vocalist Simon Friend isn’t present. It could be argued that a full performance of the band’s career defining album will offer a superior set, but there’s no getting around the fact that Simon’s presence will be missed by many.