Category Archives: Album & EP Reviews

TRUE HEARTS – True Hearts

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Originally formed as The Flirt in 1979 but quickly renaming themselves True Hearts, this Texan band released a largely overlooked EP on Counterfeit Records in 1980. Eleven songs were recorded with the intent of releasing a full-length LP, but that never actually came to fruition.  Over the next couple of years, True Hearts suffered personnel instability and subsequently disbanded in 1982, leaving most of their recordings unheard.

Over thirty years on from the recording of that shelved LP, the eleven songs recorded by True Hearts’ original line-up were compiled for a belated CD release.  The result is a disc which shows a band who, with a better start and a little sharpening up, could have been peers with Pezband, Off Broadway and 20/20.

With a winning combination of an accessible melody and simple chorus hook, ‘Not Tonight’ captures the band’s sound well from a musical perspective.   Throughout this opening number, guitarist Manuel Martinez puts in maximum effort and subsequently steals the show with his mix of new-wavish rhythm work and ringing lead parts (the first of which dominates the intro).  Similarly, there’s some great stuff occurring behind the drum kit, as Rick Holeman throws in a few interesting fills and some unexpected bell sounds.  In theory, these great elements should have made a killer track.  On the rather more unfortunate side of things, lead vocalist Terry Carolan has a voice that isn’t always the easiest to like.  His poppy croon wavers a little off key, something not helped by backing vocals which seem equally slapdash.  Much better, ‘I Need You All The Time’ is a harmony driven pop-rocker which is good as any the early eighties offered; with the addition of a few keyboards, True Hearts sound more assured, while chorus-wise this tune really hits the spot.  In terms of influence, a little Raspberries, a little Cheap Trick and a whole lotta Pezband makes a winning formula.  The piano driven ‘If I’m Late’ shows a quirkier side to the band with stabbing rhythms, a wandering bass part and some pompy vocals providing plenty of bounce.  Given the lack of guitars on this number, you’d think that Carolan would falter vocally, but he sounds very natural – complimenting the music well, even – leaving you to wonder what had gone so wrong on ‘Not Tonight’…

‘Girl In a Men’s Magazine’, on the other hand, is bad both musically and lyrically.  Its stark musical arrangement presents a piano waltz underpinned by synth sounds.  Lacking in any bass, drums or guitars, this leaves everything sounding really twee.  While Carolan’s vocal holds its own, his lyrics concerning a pin up (and the teenage wanting thereof) are just cringe inducing.  A fuller musical arrangement may have helped disguise the bad subject matter, but it still would have been pretty bad.  Luckily, since this track is barely a minute and a half in duration, by the time you’ve realised how awful it is, it’s very nearly over.  What follows is one of the album’s best.  ‘Trust Me Candy’ cashes in on a great harmony filled chorus, chiming chords worthy of The Knack and a relatively decent guitar solo.  There are a few rough edges here (a couple of dodgy notes in the solo and a slightly flat sounding drum), but that’s all part of its overall charm.  Connoisseurs of power pop from between 1977-1980 are sure to find an instant familiarity, but then, that’s no bad thing.

Rather more upbeat than most of True Hearts’ songs, ‘Sleep Tight’ melds classic power pop with a slightly trashier rock ‘n’ roll aesthetic, allowing guitarist Martinez to cut loose on a couple of raggedy solos while Carolan pushes his voice to the limit.  Had the band given this to Cheap Trick instead, it wouldn’t have sounded too out of place on their earlier records.  A double whammy of enjoyment, ‘Hold Me Close/Don’t Stop’ at first mixes reasonable harmonies with a few power chords, resulting in a solid outing on which Carolan sounds better than usual.  As good as this is, it’s the track’s second part (‘Don’t Stop’) that’s the clincher. Holeman attacks his hi-hat and snare with the kind of vigour not always evident on the rest of the disc, while the rest of the chaps also appear a little more aggressive.   Overall, there are no huge surprises, but here – as with ‘Sleep Tight’ – you’ll get a brief glimpse into how great True Hearts could be if/when they really tried.

Despite a few iffy vocals – and the fact that these recordings have moments where all four band members seem almost incapable of achieving musical greatness at the same time – there was obviously a reasonable amount of talent within True Hearts.   Based on these songs, they aren’t quite as enjoyable as some of the similar bands from the period (especially Pezband or Tommy Tutone), but given a better chance, who knows what they would have achieved?  What we are left with is a curio that captures an emerging talent which, for fans of late seventies power pop, is a fascinating look at what might have been.

October 2012

ANIMAL PARTS – Animal Parts

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Considering this self-titled offering is only his second release, Animal Parts’ frontman Joshua Cockerill demonstrates an excellent gift for song-craft, certainly one beyond his relative inexperience. Plenty of rootsy moods, a little pop and a few strong narratives each come together to make a record that has plenty of emotional pull.

The quirky ‘Poets’ is an instant standout, it’s mix of acoustic guitar, new wave keyboards and handclaps come together in a way which manages to be reminiscent of an early 80s power pop band reimagined by Wilco.  Vocally, the underplayed harmonies are great, while with his lead vocal delivery, Cockerill knows he has a natural sense of style – he doesn’t have to use any quirks or unnecessary affectations to catch the ear.  Another great jangler, ‘I Won’t Ever Let You Down’ breezes along with a sunny optimism, its tune recalling the best indie-pop of the 1990s.  While the bouncy air and simple chorus are the things which are likely to be considered the most striking about this particular number, its bass part should not be overlooked – the production values here really bring out the best in the performance.  It may not be completely original, but it is so well performed, it’s near impossible to dislike.

Although never flashy, ‘King of Kings’ is another instantly likeable offering, again hinting at a love of 90s jangle-pop/indie.  Throughout the bulk of this tune, Cockerill and his Animal Parts sound positive, bringing a real spark to their performance.  Despite this, it is not the song’s main part which ends up being its most memorable (even with a drum part that tips the hat to Phil Spector…) The real stroke of genius here comes during the songs coda, where Cockerill throws out huge ugly slabs of guitar drenched in levels of reverb which would befit Neil Young & Crazy Horse.  The influence here is as subtle as a brick – particularly reminiscent of ‘Don’t Cry’ from Young’s 1989 album ‘Freedom’.  Still, given this band’s Canadian heritage and their love of roots-rock, gaining influence from the mighty sideburned one was inevitable.

While those upbeat tunes sound great from first listen, it doesn’t take too long before some of the rootsier material proves to be just as enjoyable…and perhaps even more so. With just a finger-picked guitar leading the way ‘Running’ starts out very wistfully, with Cockerill’s voice taking the weight of the melody, its natural tone pulling in the listener once more.  His delivery wobbles a little, like a man who could crack at any given moment, but that’s half the charm – it’s an absolute pleasure to hear a voice that’s not been shined to perfection with various studio filters.  The slow and lumbering ‘Dream Where I Break Horses’ offers a particularly memorable lyric, blending thoughts of hours spent equine training in potentially lonely surroundings with a tune that would befit many of Animal Parts’ country-rock influenced predecessors.  The aching, country tinged lead voice works especially well with a slightly reverbed drum, electric piano and soft cello drones, creating an absolutely unmissable tune, which in the hands of Son Volt – for example – would quickly be heralded a genre classic.

Also from the top drawer, ‘The Bird Song’ places Cockerill upfront with just an acoustic guitar and quiet voice.  The finger picked acoustic notes are quiet and almost disjointed; with an incredibly sparse backdrop, the tune is wholly at the mercy of the vocal to carry any emotional weight, but the performance is more than up to the task in hand.  Fragile, beautiful, almost painful – this is Animal Parts laid bare.  A warm bass and droning crescendo fills any gaps at the inevitable climax. If alt-country is your bag, you’ll totally dig this…and then some.  It’s a close contender for this album’s finest offering, but it’s just pipped by the masterful ‘…Break Horses’.

While you may be able to spot a few obvious influences on this release, that doesn’t weaken its impact.  With a perfect balance between chirpy pop/rock and darker alt-country suffering, ‘Animal Parts’ is a great record which comes highly recommended.

October 2012

GNIYRG GNAARG – The Acolytes Feel Sleepy EP

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Aside from having an unpronounceable name that’s a nightmare for search engines, Gniyrrg Gnaarg are a Finnish doom metal/stoner rock trio.  Their second EP ‘The Acolytes Feel Sleepy’ presents two long and ambling epics linked by a shorter instrumental piece.  Musically, there are a few interesting moments, but it’s only fair to warn that in terms of performance these guys are pretty ragged, so getting all the way through requires some patience on behalf of the listener.

‘Hololuthrian’ is slow to start, as a solid bassline collides with a fuzzy guitar riff.  That riff shows promise with its tone reminiscent of other stoner works, but the playing is a tiny bit clumsy.  By the time the tune cranks itself up at about the two minute mark, the riffs swells to a full on monolithic metallic slab and in doing so become much more enjoyable.  Predictably, it then subsides in order to accommodate the lead vocal.  This is somewhat of a drawback: although Tommy’s basslines have a decent weighty quality, his vocal style is thin and rather waily.  His accented cries aren’t particularly suited to a metal band and are more than a bit difficult to endure in any more than short bursts.  Luckily, on the chorus section, parts of the vocals are disguised with distortion and all round extra fuzziness…   Add a rudimentary drummer whose playing doesn’t have a particularly huge presence and for nearly nine minutes you’re faced with a piece of music which tries hard – very hard, in fact – but doesn’t always live up to its potential.

‘Nay, A Prophet’ – the EP’s other long piece – is as bewildering as it is entertaining.  The bass lays down an ominous riff at first, with a couple of great high notes, while Leo noodles slowly on his guitar in a jazzy tone.  The drums, meanwhile, plod mechanically – and without any kind of exteme metal riff to disguise them (at least to begin with), the beats almost feel too slow, almost like a recording slightly slowed down.  Although it’s deceptively hard to maintain a slow and pounding beat, Ines, on occasion, sounds like a man who’s not been playing for a long time.  Instrumentally, there is something here potentially more enjoyable than ‘Hololuthrian’ – largely down to a superb fuzz bass – but on the flipside, huge parts of this number are crushed by a giant wailing vocal.  By the closing section, the band crank up into a high gear; with everything played much faster, it’s hard to tell whether Tom’s vocal is off-key on purpose in a gently avant-garde sense, or just plainly off-key…only Gniyrg Gnaarg know that for sure.

The short instrumental ‘A Wizard?’ is this EPs best tune.  It’s not necessarily to do with the lack of vocal especially, but everything to do with a much more focused approach. The riffs take a Black Sabbath blueprint and turns it up to eleven, cranking out long-ish notes in a loop for just over two minutes.  Those riffs have a fuller quality all round, while the brief playing time means there is no room here for needless noodling or padding.  It goes straight for your skull in terms of overall aggression, something helped further by Tommy’s loud rattling bass sound.  This proves that Gniyrg Gnaarg aren’t without talent – just based on most of ‘The Acolytes Feel Sleepy’, any talent they have is still very raw.

There are glimpses of goodness found within this EP and sonically, it’s a vast improvement over Gniyrg Gnaarg’s previous recording (2010’s ‘Mother Sun’).  Overall, though, at this early stage of their musical career, these guys just don’t have the tightness that’s necessary to make their sounds work over a long period.

September 2012

BEAR MAKES NINJA – Shouting At Bridges

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Bear Makes Ninja are a three-piece Mathrock band from Leicestershire.  At the root of the seven tunes featured on ‘Shouting At Bridges’ (their second EP), you’ll find lots of the usual musical complexity associated with the subgenre – the bastard child of alternative rock and progressive metal – but what makes BMN really tick is their love of a heavy riff.

Such a riff cuts through the middle of ‘Fruit Can’t Fly’, exposing a huge admiration for early Smashing Pumpkins.   While there’s very little in the way of a chorus, the push and pull between (almost) harmonious singing and all out shouting holds the attention well enough, while riff wise – alternating between the Pumpkins-esque groove and something much faster – the band show themselves have some decent rock chops.  Digging a little deeper, some of the drum work is of particular note, especially the rather fast hi-hat work.  Overall, this is a fantastic number…especially with the volume cranked; the EP is worth investigating on the strength of this track alone. On the more melodic side, ‘Human-zee’ shows jazzier leanings within BMN’s sound:  the off-kilter rhythm and jazz guitar lines are key here, but although their journey into such territory is enjoyable, it’s quickly apparent that James Palmer isn’t quite as adept at the guitar noodlings as Wot Gorilla?’s Ben Farnell.  Even so, his jazzier chops make a fine base for drummer Karina Lawrence to build a quirky rhythm to compliment Ben Kutzner’s busy bass riffs.

‘Beef Sweets’ pulls Bear Makes Ninja’s three key styles into one short instrumental piece.  A clean guitar riff played with some delay paves the way for an unfussy and rather chunky bass part.  These two elements provide the bulk of the tune, but BMN aren’t quite done: to round things off, another huge riff (of a Helmet-esque chugginess) pulls things to a gradual close.  Perhaps more could have been made of this tune – and the size of that riff in particular – but in terms of simply highlighting this band’s main sounds, it does a reasonable job.

The second half of ‘Shouting At Bridges’ never stretches beyond the musical themes laid down within the first three tracks, but even so, it’s not without enjoyment.  ‘The Duke and The Rogue’ sounds great during the noisier moments, a wall of guitars hinting at influences from Oceansize and Tool, while the shouty, English accented lead voice shows a fair lack of restraint (in a good way); ‘A Welcome Break’s intro includes the EPs strongest drum part – crossing slightly jazz inflected rhythms with a marching solidity.  Both are standout moments that suggest that while Bear Makes Ninja aren’t always quite as consistent as a couple of their peers [namely Tubelord and the aforementioned Wot Gorilla?, both of whom BMN have supported], when those sparks of brilliance are there, this are capable of more than holding their own within a burgeoning scene of mathrock bands.

Closing the EP, ‘Keep Wandering’ is a short, light piece that features a simplistic guitar part with a gentle echo, giving the track a nice live sound.  After a while, a one-line vocal creeps in, with all band members singing off kilter (not quite in a round) and slightly off-key.  While it completely dispenses with Bear Makes Ninja’s metallic oomph and is far from their best tune, it seems like an appropriate way to wind down.

For those who feel largely unmoved by the mathrock movement, as good as they can be at times, Bear Makes Ninja aren’t likely to change any minds.  For those who love a few screamy vocals, huge riffs and aren’t adverse to a bit of proggy twiddling, although ‘Shouting At Bridges’ is a little uneven, there will certainly be a couple of tunes here which rattle the brain cells.

October 2012

SUNDAY SUN – III EP

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Recorded during the same sessions for their second EP, this third release from Dutch power poppers Sunday Sun finishes a trilogy of EPs released throughout 2012.  While that second EP wasn’t quite as strong as the first, this final part makes up for any previous minor disappointments, delivering the band’s strongest set of songs.  Those who took an instant liking to Sunday Sun’s previous work will be pleased to note that ‘III’ offers no musical curveballs or surprises… As such, it’s less important to go into any lengthy details here – everything you need to know about this band has likely already been said.  In a nutshell, though, this third EP takes the band’s strongest elements and – if anything – improves on them, giving the listener seven slices of near-perfect pop.

The most instant “hit” comes from ‘Better Than That’, a track featuring lavish pop harmonies, crisp sounding guitars and tinkling glockenspiels.  It takes everything you’ve loved about Sunday Sun’s prior work and turns it up to eleven, perhaps showing a strong love of Fountains of Wayne in the process.  Almost as good, ‘Light Up The Sky’ at first sounds like it’s going to be a little different, with a strong focus on tinkling pianos.  It’s not long, though, before a very strong rhythm section reinstates their beloved rumpty-tumpty marching beat (as heard on ‘Sunday Sun’) and the band drop into the kind of pop they could write (and possibly perform) in their sleep.  ‘Sing’ is a sugary number which includes another upfront bass part (expertly played by Jan Teerstra) against ringing guitars worthy of many 60s Merseybeat recordings and a hook delivered with a world of Teenage Fanclub-esque harmonies.  The wordless “woo-ooo’s!” are maybe a little unnecessary, but considering all other elements here are superb, the track still works brilliantly.

The rest of ‘III’ is very good, despite Sunday Sun’s insistence on sticking rigidly to the kind of pop at which they’ve previously excelled.  The semi-acoustic ‘Beating Low’ offers another slight 60s influence, more great harmonies and a lovely simple chorus; ‘Honest & True’ melds a doo-wop vibe with some perfect power pop chords, a strong lead vocal and ‘Imagination’ mixes dreamy keyboard chords, marching beats and bell percussion, topping them off with harmonies culled straight from the Beach Boys school of vocalising.  While never thinking outside of the box in terms of arrangement, it is guaranteed these tunes won’t take too long to get right under the skin…

Ending this release, ‘White Is All I See’ is a wistful acoustic number, where natural sounding vocals meet a string section to create something showing a more emotional side to the band’s sound than ever before.  Whereas Sunday Sun’s earlier attempt at acoustic gentleness (the first EP’s ‘How Come I Miss You So Much’) ended up being little more than filler material, this is fully formed and well orchestrated and, as a result, more sophisticated. It’s a fine way to bring this trilogy of releases to a close.

Sunday Sun’s EP trilogy comprises eighteen songs in all, most of which are incredibly fine examples of sun-filled power pop.  Had the band trimmed the selection down and issued their best twelve/thirteen tracks as a full-length LP, that LP would have been one of the greatest power pop debuts ever – up there with Jellyfish’s ‘Bellybutton’.  As it is, all three EPs are very good indeed, but ‘III’ outshines them all.

October 2012