Ex Dead Fly Buchowski man Tom Davis has gone all mellow and woody on us and in conjunction with Lucky Number Nine Records (surely squaring up to be the label of the year) bestows upon us a glorious slice of acoustic rock.
"The End of Melancholy" is reminiscent of The Woodentops/Rolo McGinty, no bad thing indeed. The song flows easily supported by the vocals of Andrea Tomlinson and the fluid guitar of Ian Moy. There is a tremendous harmonica break in the middle that sounds as if prime Prefab Sprout were in at the session. "Silent Movie Starlets" is a more introspective confessional type of song with tenebrous cello adding shade to an autumnal song. Lyrically, Davis comes across as akin to the late Nick Drake.
The review copy came with two other songs ("Hey You" and "No Tomorrow") which maintain the quality control. "Hey You" has furious scrubbed guitars and some wonderful vocals. "No Tomorrow" cribs the opening bars from CSN&Y's Wooden Ships but from there on is a wonderful concoction of melancholic fiddle, brushed drums and excellent vocals from Davis and Tomlison that leave the listener impatiently waiting for a full length release.