- Music
- 20 Sep 05
Resourceful as ever, the Hot Press Covert Operations Team has managed to, er, obtain a pre-release copy of the new BellX1 album, Flock.
Due on October 14, the tracks stack up as follows:
‘Reach Around' - Who's been listening to Joy Division then? Paul Noonan does his best Ian Curtis impersonation as BellX1 jump on the '80s post-punk bandwagon.
'Flame' - Falsetto vocals, funky basslines and syncopated beats make for a song that strays into Scissor Sisters territory. No, really! Add in such playful couplets as "I want to be near you and blink in your light/And toast marshmallows on a cold dark night" and Elton John's patronage is assured.
'Rocky Took A Lover' - An everything including the kitchen sink relationship song, which with UK radio support could prove to be their 'Run'.
'He Said, She Said' - More retro walking on the dark side, with a touch of the Goths about Noonan's brooding vocal.
'Bad Skin Day' - A return to more familiar BellX1 territory, this meanders along pleasantly without ever hitting the stratospheric highs you want it to. 'Natalie' - The emotional heat is turned up as Paul, aware that "History is written by the winners", fights for his love life.
'Bigger Than Me' - We've got a wurlitzer and we're going to use it! The organ is the only thing that's wobbly about this hard rocking song, which also boasts some Keith Richards-style riffing at the end.
'Just Like Mr Benn' - Don't be fooled by the jokey title, this is the sound of somebody staring heartbreak in the face.
'My First Born For A Song' - Have you ever seen Dave Geraghty and Jamie Cullum in the same room? We ask because his piano-playing on this sounds identical to the midget nu-jazz man's.
'Trampoline' - Apologies for using the C-word, but Flock's penultimate tracks gives Coldplay a run for their money in the big ballad department.
'Lamp Posts' - A 7m 34s epic cast from the same songwriting mould as 'Eve, The Apple Of My Eye'.