Brian Mackey

Americana, country-blues and indie-pop all waft out of the speakers as the listener is given an insight in to the personal impact of rural early life colliding with big city as an adult. There is a powerful emotionally driven content to the music, which is topped off by an engaging vocal.

It is possible to draw many references from the music, but it is the blending that marks Brian Mackey as one to take the time to listen. Slower reflections are countered by more up-beat tempo and the vocal has the ability to settle comfortably in the atmosphere drawing the maximum out of the instrumentation.

This sits so squarely in the middle of the road it is in danger of being hit by traffic coming both ways, but there is that intangible quality that raises this to something worthwhile. Brain doesn’t try to re-invent any wheels, but he does take a diversity of influences and sweeps them in to a pile of introspection, from which he is able to compose some highly emotionally charged pieces of work.

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Laura by Spruke

The moment I clicked – Play – my life felt better. The duo from very different backgrounds have engaged and created a superb soundspace. Invective and challenge roar out of the speakers like a rabid Doberman wrapped in a tissue paper. You just know beneath the pink tissue stirs a behemoth waiting to inflict invective.

Solid beats drive the electronics forward as if in a maddened tango as the vocal strides across the floor adding balance and poise to the material and the listener finds themselves encased in a web of tantalising poisonous honey. The playground of David and Bathsheba is laid bare for the audience as the music pulls in threads from around the globe to entrap and ensnare, whilst the darts of approbation hit the target with each syllable.

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Jack Jeffery

Sunday seems to be the day I alight upon an ambience of calmness, so here again I arrive, snow has fallen on the ground, it is Sunday as I write and Jack Jeffrey suits the mood to perfection.

The influences of the psychedelic rock bands from the ’60s and ’70′s are plain to the ears, but that is not to detract from what Jack is producing. There is a newness which brings the music forward 40 years and strikes a chord in the second decade of the 21st Century. Don’t be in a hurry when listening to the music, tracks have been known to extend for 7 over minutes, but it doesn’t become a repetitive monologue, in fact, as the music extends so the rich flavour of the compositions matures and the extended play nestles sweetly in the head, engrossing and sweeping the mind to a space of relaxation.

I was tempted to write a review of the LP, but somehow a taste of Jack Jeffery seemed a smarter move, as a full review would have resulted in you having many thousands of words to read as the nuances and reflective of individual tracks demand close attention and highlighting.

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Take One Car

For some reason, I thought Pea and Ham Soup, a hearty lunch for a cold day. I have mentioned before, I am sure, that these reviews are written on my first in-depth listening to a band, as it makes the whole review an honest thought process, you read what comes in to my head, not a 4th edit after hours of listening to albums, back-catalogue and various formats. As part of that process, when I come to adding an image to the article, which is done before the main body of the text, I have the music on and below where the image will sit, I write what ever is in my head and on this occasion it was Pea and Ham Soup. Take One Car plays a hearty mix of guitar led rock which stirs memories of long forgotten classics – hence Pea and Ham Soup – any way, enough of my head-space.

The band pull together disparate threads of thought and utilise their abilities as musicians to regurgitate this in the appropriate manner and as such they explore a range of tempo, construction and this lends Take One Car its disparate out-put. Wherever it lies, it doesn’t sound like the vocal was forced in to the music or vice-versa, they have the confidence and ability to explore the sound that makes most of the thought process and for this, I give a warm welcome to the band for the first time on the indie bands blog.

Sitting down to listen to the band is akin to going to a rock music festival, the sheer range of direction has a quick check to ensure this is just the one band. The commonality being the guitar led material and the over-all roll of the surf.

I would imagine it is this sheer depth of ability and fearless desire to capture the moment, which means that the band are set to release only their second LP after four years. Though I have not had the opportunity to see the band live, I anticipate it to be an engaging experience, which would drive the audience to want to hear them again, but from a more ‘career’ driven path one that would leave A&R Scouts lost in a whirl of confusion.

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The new release – It’s Going To Be A Nice Day – is due out on February 21st which I hope to be able to review, that will explain the Pea and Ham Soup.

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Roosevelt Radio

San Francisco? I would have sworn not North of the Watford Gap – yes that is a London joke. Grab a search of the M1 in the UK and you will find just here - West boundary: 1W35′ East boundary 0W33′ – North Boundary 52N67′ South Boundary 51N94′ (approximately) which delineates ’passport country’, yet Roosevelt Radio, which even purloins a President of the USA as the first part of the name sound like natives of Wandsworth.

I found myself rebounding with joy off the walls as the band entered the room. We find superbly crafted and understated compositions which envelop the body in pink bubble wrap. The band welcome listeners with opening arms to a delightful evening of vocal driven synths. An engaging energy flows from the out-put which envelopes the listener in layers of connected wisps of loosely interconnected instrumentation, lifting the spirit and soul.

The louder the volume turns, the better the sound, thank you Roosevelt Radio for a kick in the shins to a cynic. Or to put in another way – delicious tempos and well crafted song-writing ability are a platinum stamp on a refreshing and engaging band.

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Strangers Pass

America always amazes me, my politics are well expounded to those who have followed the links proffered from time to time, but on this occasion I am not  dealing with geo-politics, but the nature of music. Of course there have been some immense impact by American artists across the world, but for some reason the serious directions are subsumed by acts from other countries and the while the iconic remains in the memory, the global impact wanders off to bands from another country. I think here of New York Dolls and the scene at CBGBs, yet Punk became synonomous with the UK. It seems for some obscure reason the USA is good at defining an internal alternative proposition, the rest of the world the grab the mantle. I guess that is a little like Scottish inventions – take a look at the list one day.

Strangers Pass, sit within that mantle I believe, they drive a superb line and I can see other bands picking this route, well to be fair, I hear bands finding this path frequently, the sound is becoming ever more European-centric, few of these date back beyond a couple of years. Yet a powerful band, with a refreshing stamp on a sound-scape remain hidden behind the shadows.

02 Reach Out by strangerspass

The trio have developed an impressive sound, which takes the listener to some new and very interesting spaces. I wrote about The Reactors a while ago, another three piece outfit that made an immediate impact. There is something intrinsically powerful about a band which is able to drop the ‘fourth’ person and then go on to add some new value to the world of music.

I think if Strangers Pass, were to relocate to London – England, they would find an eager audience.

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Caitlin Rose

The strength in the out-put lies in the heartfelt compositions. I haven’t suddenly gone all woolly jumper on myself, but just because a tune doesn’t have a disturbingly loud bass, doesn’t mean I can’t find some connection.

What marks out a band for inclusion on the indie bands blog website, is a mixture of things, but the essential ingredient is that the material adds something to the world of music and with no doubt Caitlin Rose ticks the box. Alternative Country may be a more suitable coat to wear, else the blinkers shut over many ears and although much of this genre steeps of sentimental drudgery, each band sounding precisely the same, here we have an artist who takes a slightly different lyrical perspective and threads through some new twists to the genre, whilst maintaining at the core, the essential ingredient that keeps generations of Country Fans coming back for more, that very sameness that turns off those not in to the scene.

Many genres suffer this self same issue, each band wanting to sound more ‘essential’ than the next, but each failing dismally.

What Caitlin Rose is able to achieve, is to open the door a crack to a broader audience as the saccharine sweetness is sharpened with some Bitter Aloes and the music dusted down with a Dyson cleaner, rather than a straw brush. Suddenly we have something relevant and with enough to draw in a wider audience.

Caitlin Rose – Own Side Now by ATO Records

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Ellis Ashbrook

Great fun to be had taking a listen to Ellis Ashbrook, wholesome progressive rock meets exploration and a side-step to a mix of genres. Each piece sits on its own plinth, distinct and complete. I even found some ska references bouncing over the parapet.

Highly capable musicians wander over much ground and there is a danger that any distinctive sound can become lost in the melé, but that matters not a jot. This is a band to listen to – much like an evening in a mixed cocktail bar, you may not know what is coming next, but you know it will be sublime. Unlike the aforementioned cocktail mixing – time with Ellis Ashbrook results in a morning of where is the re-play button, not headache tablets.

The more I listen, the more impressed I become by the skills and structures of the material. It is the sheer diversity which instead of becoming a weakness, is in fact the real strength of the band. A plethora of sounds and tempos appear over a series of tracks, each played and stirred in to the mix with panache and consummate skill.

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Bryan Cole

Having spent much of the past day travelling, the email from Michael Stover at Perfect Vision Records was timed to perfection. Nothing too demanding on the ears, but a good solid honest sound. Bryan Cole has hit the peg squarely with his retake on country, a genuine lyric and vocal is supported by a strong musical accompaniment.

There is sufficient tempo to get the toes tapping alongside the output. The strength lies in the totality of the out-put which avoids the tired clichés of the genre while remaining true to its roots. By that very sentence, you would be right to assume, Bryan doesn’t stretch the envelope of credibility, rather, which is a far more difficult task, rises above the crown in a vast market space.

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The Minor Leagues

Whisked back to the New Romantics and life is good, The Minor Leagues, well of course the head in the shell name would pique an interest. How does a band from, Cincinnati manage to encapsulate London in the early ’80′s and then manage to make it all sound so much more exciting. No it isn’t due to the seven musicians, who scintillate the Extensor digitorum longus, rather the sublime interaction between those self same seven.

The song compositions are what raises a smile to the face and get the feet muscles working.

This can’t but help to raise a smile, or you are reading the wrong website.

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