Song reviews

There was a time when bands did albums because that was what a grown up band did.  Twelve Ton Trouble – a Guernsey based rock band it would seem – are a grown up band and “Chosen” goes big on the emotion courtesy of a deeply macho whisky soaked vocal by Robert Hunter. No man bags here and that’s for certain.

What time is it (I hear you say)? It’s balls to the wall rock time again and Scottish band Third Rail have the volume turned to max in “Set To Kill”. The requisite riffs are there of course but it is the delinquent female vocals that are the icing on the cake for this song.

It is almost an insult to describe “We’re All Dead” as festival friendly fodder for cardigan wearers everywhere but that is what Folks have carefully crafted here. You can’t argue with that approach, of course, as it has worked well for Efterklang, Mumford and Sons etc etc etc

Somewhat offbeat in its edgy presentation, “Goblin’s Fruit” nonetheless captures your attention with left of centre female vocals – Bjork meets Melanie is about as close as I can get - and the sort of oblique lyrics that make you wonder what she is actually singing about. Should go down well with the better educated listener.

“Fighting A Battle When You’re Lost” is a competent if unexciting folk flavoured song that scores a couple of points for the earnest performance by Shaun Tutt and for some decent lyrics. On the debit side, the song does sound exactly like a song from any other better than average singer songwriter. Nice enough but unlikely to stand out from the crowd,

The mid paced “Everyone Expected Her to Dance” is unexpectedly mainstream and commercial for a Glasgow singer songwriter with Liam Tennant pulling at all the right heart strings in his search for success. The sound quality made my ears bleed but a re-recording with a suitably sweeping string arrangement could do some business.

Convincing post punk with a past midnight too cool for school groove, Birmingham band Bombers throw their retro guitar powered edginess into “Forecast”. If this were 1979, record companies would be camped outside their door. Unfortunately it’s not so Bombers will most likely be blessed with only critical approval.

“In The Wake” is as hot, hard and heavy as you would expect of a band on the cusp of hard rock and metal but SilenceThe Machine don’t actually deliver anything that you haven’t heard many times before. Too safe for success? Probably.

“Invent The Future” bodes well for Irish band Castlestreet. Although the song has something of a slow start, it takes off towards the folk rock horizon at the two minute mark with some vigour. Festival friendly without a doubt.

With a sweet and soulful voice, Ozara Odé is nothing if not easy on the ear. “Higher Plain” shows her to be a singer of class and distinction who can bring that seventies’ downbeat funk feel to all that she does. Pretty much guaranteed to put you in a mellow mood, (especially if you chop the last two minutes off this song).

Minimalist electronica that uses repetition and a fluttering trip out beat makes “And Now I’m Ready To Go” sound much like any other example of the laptop and sample genre except for the oddball, over emoted vocals. The song does not really have anywhere to go but that is probably the point.

“Punchbag” is an endearingly frenetic slice of indie rock from Glasgow’s The Beautiful Game. It might be low on surprises but you can’t argue with the band’s spirited performance.