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Carolyn Dawn Johnson - Dress Rehearsal
Signed to Sony BMG and sounding a little like the Coors, the melodic
sounds of Carolyn Dawn Johnson will be easy on the ear whatever
style you choose to listen to. Dress Rehearsal is a track that may
not stop you in your tracks when you hear it on the radio, but nice
all the same. |
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Cars As Wepons: Dear Strutta
By the time you read this, CAW will have sorted what lucky money men
will be chucking this against the wall and probably edged even closer
to world domination, or at least local celebrity. With Walter
Schreifels adding his elfin charm to proceedings, moulding Cars As
Wepons sound to new heights of commercial viability, these dons of
Essex hardcore are causing something of a stir right now, especially
if their recent Chinnerys show was anything to go by. It would be easy
to diss something that Kerrang! Magazine has already described (with
just a tad too much hyperbole methinks) as "the most important record
of the year" but fuck it man, I'm down with the kids on this one.
Cars, like, fuckin' rock! So for every ultra generic emo-core track
like "Meanwhile at the crash site" you also get air guitar inducing
slabs of greatness. "Disconnect" does that job with ease or better
still the sun-kissed splendour of "Vital signs". You might well be
hearing a lot more of these gents. Watch this space…
carsaswepons@hotmail.com |
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The Chorus: Charlie / Mirrorball / The Drunks on
the Pier
I was under the impression that bands from South Woodham Ferris
were incapable of writing a hook or a melody what with the plethora of
mediocre teenage punk/emo/ska blah blah yawn yawn bands that dwell
there. I have been proven wrong by a 5-piece rock combo called The
Chorus. Hailing from South Woodham themselves, they present here 3
tracks of accessible 3/4 tempo moderate rock songs straight from the
heart. Brimming with melody and heart felt vocals, the music sounds
familiar and the songs ebb and flow with their own unique blend of
organic instrumentation and odes to inebriation. That said, I do think
the tracks lack that final 10 or 15% that could elevate the band to
fame and regular Radio 1 air play (if indeed that is a good thing!).
Maybe a couple of killer major7th chords are missing or maybe some
vocal harmonies.. or maybe I’m just nit picking. Solid musicianship
and memorable songs; that’s what The Chorus display here and they do
it well. |
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Cathy Davey: Something ILK
Dublin born singer/songwriter Cathy Davey delivers a tidy,
enjoyable and uplifting album in Something ILK. There is something
about this music that lures you into wanting to replay the tracks
again and the music is performed and sung with confident execution.
Both of which are good things but the overall resonance of the music
is more pleasant then lasting potent life affirming stuff. There
doesn’t appear to be a chorus or hook that could breathe more life
into this music and make it into something really special. What we do
have though are nice percussive drum-loops, clean guitar riffs, pianos
and Davey’s treacle sweet vocals all of which are set against
atmospherics, and she isn’t afraid of the odd chant as well which is
cool. Think a more layered Matt Harding or maybe the kind of chanty
music you can picture Avril Lavigine making in 10 years time as she
experiments with drugs, opening a set on Later with Jools Holland. Not
an outstanding album but a pleasure to listen to none the less.
Hootenanny:
www.cathydavey.com |
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Catherine Campbell
A country twang would be a fair comment to make for the music of Catherine Campbell. A raw sounding demo in the most basic form. Catherine and her guitar, with a little bit of toms chucked in for good measure. The kind of music that may not stop your bar chatter when she’s on stage, but definitely a pleasant sound so won’t offend anyone.
Good luck with all your gigs and we hope you keep at it.
Clare Blackman
Always a surprise when you put in a solo artist and your fist response is ‘a good voice actually’. I think Clare Blackman’s production would have more weight in the US market as they seem more geared to this solo, country vocal music than the UK. Not the sort of vibe one expects from Billericay to be honest, but nice all the same. Keep it up Clare and make sure you let us hear any new music you bring out.
Coerce
Self described as Melodic Metal, I certainly wasn’t hearing that on track 1 of their demo. Heavy guitars and drums, rapped and hard vocals. I liked it!
Track 2 kicking in we can see where the melodic metal comes from. Personally I would have gone with a harder description, and done more of track 1 but what do I know?
COMEG
COMEG’s new album titles Alcohol Fuelled is definitely a pleasure to listen to. When played in the office the first few comments were U2, maybe slightly Blur. Track 2 kicks off with a Pink Floyd kind of vibe – we sit waiting for the vocals, but there aren’t any. Nice little instrumental.
Will COMEG make it? Well your guess is a good as mine. I think will take a few more listens before making further conclusion but no one is offended here so something wright is going on! Good luck COMEG!
To be reviewed, click here.
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