First Cuts

The overall band sound is jazz-lite, with tastefully polite keyboards, smooth inoffensive sax and neatly-polished vocals, a sort of Jimmy Cake with the blood drained out. It’s musicianly and confident, superbly sung but otherwise bland and insipid. If the world needs another Sade, they could certainly apply for the job. Otherwise they need an urgent shot of rhythm and blues.

From deepest, darkest Carrickmacross come Sanzkrit. They, very unwisely, plan to record a thirty-six song promotional demo this year. Not a good idea, as nobody will listen to it. On this demo they apply metal to the pedal with exuberance and panache, especially on the opener ‘Old School Dinosaurs’, about school bullies, which features a hypnotic guitar riff. ‘Your God Is A Fake’ deals with religious hypocrisy in a song that’s really run-of-the mill grunge and copycat stuff from other bands. ‘Communication Zero’ is a thoughtful love song which is such a change in style that it could be by a different band and could be a more useful path for them to take.
The value of a clean sound in a decent studio comes through in Catherine Farrell’s demo, recorded in Dwansound in Ballina. Farrell has a beguilingly emotive voice which she applies superbly to her thoughtful songs, especially ‘I Just Realised’ which comes adorned with fetching harmonies at no extra cost. Comparisons with Joni Mitchell tend to be almost compulsory with female singer-songwriters, but Farrell has a closer affinity with Neil Young, the softer side of Chrissie Hynde and more contemporary acts like Gemma Hayes. Some electric slide guitar effects and a harmonica beef up the first track and ‘Can I Take You Dancing’. ‘I Remember You’ is more predictable, boringly long and ultimately less effective, but, fortunately, by the time you get to it you have been well convinced that Farrell is a serious talent. On the negative side, her otherwise well-presented demo has sleeve-notes that are gratuitously long and pointless, and there’s no contact number for her on the CD anywhere.
Romance Is Dead (from Wicklow) are basically two blokes, Blake Norton and Brendan Munroe. Their press release hypes up their “duelling acoustic guitars”, but anyone expecting sparks to fly will be disappointed. ‘Thank You Renee’ is quite samey – the gritty vocals and chiming guitar being its most attractive elements. There follows a much smarter, bandified version of the same song, which suggests that RID might have a better future as an indie rock band than as doom-laden folk saddos. But please, drop the duelling guitars fantasy.
The first song, ‘The Pop’ from Galway-band Musicola, starts like Tom Robinson’s ‘2-4-6-8 Motorway’ and turns into a smart slice of soft pop-rock, replete with glossy harmonies and tight playing and a naggingly catchy chorus, except there’s a section in the middle which inadvertently sounds like Frank Zappa sending up cheesy pop acts. ‘C’mon Sing It Out’ is a tougher but no less superb track, coming on initially like The Who in full flight. ‘Gimme The Money’ is funkier, verging at times on cod-Bee Gees, but with dodgier falsettos and hints of Michael Jackson’s pop-soul classic ‘Don’t Stop Till You Get Enough’. Tom Dunne will love these guys to bits. This is brilliant stuff, practically flawless and way better than most of the “proper” releases I’ve received this fortnight. Go on, give them your money. Things go better with Musicola.