Sometimes you can listen to an album and just know where it is from and Rob Skane’s “Phantom Power Trip” clearly hails from a big city basement. In its melodically conventional and compact way, this album is something of a post punk homage to the tribulations of the singer songwriter.
However, Mr Skane’s songs for the most part stay well clear of self obsession even if, notwithstanding the presence of other musicians, this album still sounds like a work of a one man band. In his basement, he has clearly laboured long and hard on creating the kind of tightly constructed songs that you would expect from the likes of Marshall Crenshaw or Elvis Costello in their respective heydays. “It’s A Great Day”, for example, transcends its simplicity in a way that makes you wonder what it would sound like played live. Similarly, “Girl Next Door” just cries out for a release out into the big wide world. I’ve picked those two but there are many more just waiting for their parole to come through.
Assured song writing isn't that common a skill these days and on this album Rob Skane proves himself a true practitioner. Would it be nice to hear these songs booming out of a radio? You bet!