Penny For The Workhouse have attracted attention by performing a spirited cover of ‘Pick a Pocket’ from Oliver in their live sets. That and their choice of band name should give you at least some idea of where this quirky London band’s main interests lie. Their self-named brand of folk ‘n’ roll is occasionally spiky, sometimes upbeat and has the cheeky charm of a stage school pick-pocket. However, like the kid who learnt their craft at stage school, their performances often seem contrived and try too hard to impress, rather than just tapping into a natural talent. The five tracks on ‘Sneaky Peekers’ – the band’s second release – are lo-fi and hard going, but nothing if not spirited. Not that those high spirits will help at all should Lionel Bart’s estate come knocking – in that instance, they won’t have the Dickensian orphan’s song(s) to fall back on for too long should those guys get wind of the live show…
Tag Archives: tries too hard
CHANEL SAMSON – The Beginning EP
With her live act, The Chanel Samson Circus, Ms Samson blends music and burlesque visuals, juggling, glitter and a whole other bunch of stuff besides. On record, you can’t experience most of her act, obviously, so anything that may be winning over her audiences is largely lost on this EP. So, without the bells and whistles, what do we have? A bunch of pop-rock songs with retro elements that are (mostly) well arranged…with fabulous horns and occasional chunky guitars creating a relatively big sound.
DREE PATERSON – A Louder Side Of Me EP
On this debut release, Dree Paterson displays a hugely polished talent and appears adept at a variety of musical styles. If we were to be cynical, we could view this as a “musical CV” since her chosen styles are so disparate on occasion. She seems more than content to deliver several musical ideas and see which sticks…almost to try and gauge which will be most commercially viable, as if she’s not bothered with which one she finds success – as long as someone with the right connections likes one of them, that’s a good start. Even the title of this show reel, ‘A Louder Side of Me’, sounds like some kind of exercise in public relations…