Song reviews

If it ain’t retro then it ain’t happening and “Her Man” by Daryltron is nothing less than 100% retro with that seventies funk groove rattling the speakers like it would have done when flares were fashionable. It’s a down on the street kind of the song.

Swiss smooth jazz from Muralim with “Acho” being so easy on the ear that the song’s only true home would be the inside of a Bentley and, while there’s a saxophone way out front, this is combined musical elegance all the way.

Glasgow’s Martin Leary goes a bit melancholy with his song “It’s Time” mixing a whole pile of thudding drums and power chords in to counterpoint his way back in the mix voice. It’s a brooding song without a doubt but it does have a guitar solo.

A rumbling, grumbling, street strutting monster of a song, “Dionysus” is powered by pretty much the complete history of muscular, guitar led rock and decorated with some trippy, yet purposeful, female vocals. SunQ walk a well-trodden path but they do so with style.

Can’t say that I have heard of Basil Breen before but he seems, on the basis of his song “Nelson”, to know which road to follow to get commercial radio airplay. His voice exudes the necessary confidence to convince the casual listener and that might just be enough to get him recognition.

“You Were Never Innocent” is indeed a neatly polished song that reflects well on the commercial intentions of its creator with Goyell Saab fusing his western musical influences into an ear friendly three minute package that justifies a listen or two.

I can pretty much guarantee that “Say Something” is a song from the heart as that is what we have come to expect from Boo Sutcliffe. The sentimentality is there as is the necessary impassioned vocal performance making this a song for soon to be broken hearts.

“Wait By The Shore” is light and sugary yet the deeper sentimentality in the lyrics provides the balance this sonic confection needs to stay on course. Snows of Yesteryear might be on a well-trodden path but I like where they are going.

Solid Americana from The Distance with best use being made of a twelve bar style groove to keep “Feeling Fine” from swimming with the fishes while the juxtaposition of male and female vocals adds a curiously gothic feel. Someone put this on a soundtrack soon.

Robot boogie hits the dancefloor once again with Freakin’ Disco locking their sequencer on retro rhythms and sweeping synths and using “Face Yourself” to take us on a post-midnight journey to glitterball land. Those pills keep a ‘popping.

Going long and leisurely are The Trouble Notes with “Liberty Awaits” being more of journey than a song with those strong celtic muscles shouldering much of weighty meaning that this epic carries with it. It’s deep, wistful, and driven all at once.

As nicely polished as “Lessons Learned” is, I get the feeling that Craig David Johnson has more to cards to play than this melancholy, almost Americana in style, song would suggest. His voice is the clue but what’s his intended endgame?