It’s likely that you’ve never heard of Vincent Carr, but the multi-instrumentalist began releasing very interesting, largely instrumental work under the SUMIC name in 2014. Although easily labelled as “prog” due to its indulgent approach and complexity, the one-man project takes in a broad range of sounds and influences. On the very pastoral “Rekindled” (2016), the musical pieces drew heavily from folk and even hinted at influence from Freddie Phillips. On 2019’s more complex ‘New Paeans’, Carr wasn’t shy in sharing a love for Mike Oldfield, Steve Hillage and Gong, and the more recent ‘Strolling Early Morning’ did a fine job of blending all of those influences on a record that managed to be a little more accessible, yet no more commercial.
Category Archives: Album & EP Reviews
MERV SPENCE – Phenomena Recovered
When you think about musicians associated with classic rock bands, the name Merv Spence is unlikely to be one of the first that’ll spring to mind. In fact, there are several hundred vocalists that’ll be part of the fan consciousness before this Irish vocalist even gets a look in. …And it’s with good reason. He first made inroads into a career in 1982 when he replaced Pete Goalby in Trapeze, but that association imploded by the end of the year when guitarist Mel Galley left to join Whitesnake, putting an end to a great band. Spence recorded an album with Trapeze that year, but it remains unreleased. He later joined Wishbone Ash, an association which was again brief, but yielded one album – 1988’s ‘Raw To The Bone’. By that point in their career, Wishbone were past their best and, as such, it was a release that was only really heard by the die-hard fans.
CLICHÉ CULT – Race Against The Time / Sweet Therapy
Formed during the pandemic lockdown of 2020, Yorkshire’s Cliché Cult gradually built an online following via the release of a half dozen digital singles. The band’s mix of indie, post punk and energised jangling guitars set them out as a band to watch. In addition, the tonal shift between the Bunnymen-ish ‘Plastic World’ single in 2022 and the semi-funky ‘Veronica’ (released in March ’23) suggested they were a band who weren’t about to play things safely, or get pigeonholed.
TOMMY STINSON’S COWBOYS IN THE CAMPFIRE – Wronger
Tommy Stinson is a legend. His work with The Replacements provided the heart of the Minneapolis punk scene in the early 80s, and by the end of the decade, the band’s more melodic sounds had paved the way for varying styles of alternative rock. With his other often overlooked bands Bash & Pop and Perfect, he took the Replacements’ sound even further, dabbling with power pop and even rootsier sounds. With that in mind, although this release from his Cowboys In The Campfire is billed as a “country album”, it’s best bits aren’t quite as massive a musical shift as some people might believe.
POLLYANNA BLUE – Trials & Tribulations EP
This debut EP from Pollyanna Blue is a short but amazing work. Latching onto a style where the alternative elements collide with a heavy electronic groove, they sometimes come across like a heavy version of Metric and Transister, but the musical duo wield some serious muscle and add their own much harder edge to a genuinely classic sound.