nessymon.com

Category: Music Review

  • Benjamin Francis Leftwich: Live at Whelan’s, Dublin Review

    Ben at WhelansThe past few weeks have gone pretty well for Benjamin Francis Leftwich. His debut album ‘Last Smoke Before The Snowstorm’ entered the Top 40 UK album charts and it was announced that a remix E.P would be released on September 4th. No, that’s not enough ‘Atlas Hands’ has been given the once over by The Street’s Mike Skinner and was given the title of Hottest Record in The World on Zane Lowe’s radio show.

    July 20th saw Benjamin take in a Dublin show on his tour. By the time he was to come to the upstairs stage in Whelan’s, the crowd had pushed right up to the front. It’s not the best venue to get a vantage point if there’s a crowd but from where I was, it was as good as being a winner of Benjamin’s live in your living room gig competitions that he’s been running on his site.

    As Ben’s roadie sorts out the stage for him, something catches my eye. Instead of a set list written on a piece of paper, the artist has his set list in a notebook. This is kinda cute, it’s like each gig for him is one to cherish.  (more…)

  • Hogan: 1,2,3,4! / Dance=Sex Review

    HoganA new two track from Hogan landed on my desk this morning! The follow up to ‘Five Years On’,  ‘1, 2, 3, 4,’ is an uptempo pop punk track with distorted guitars and quite a funky rhythm section. Where ‘Five Years On’ seemed to be a band battling to find where the fit, this firmly sits in pop/punk even though in a funky breakdown they proclaim to ‘have no genre cos they keep changing’. Overall it’s well produced, though the over distorted guitars get a bit much, especially when there’s a dreaded key change.

    ‘Dance=Sex’ is quite a funky uptempo track with effected vocals. No doubt in a live setting, the ‘Hey’ refrain should work well. Here though, it seems a little manic but it’s enough to drive the pop punkers into a frenzy.

  • Viva Brother: Famous First Words Review

    vivabrother-famousfirstwordsOver the past few months, boasty comments, mini feuds with rival bands and change of moniker have all kept Viva Brother‘s profile up. The self styled ‘Gritpop’ band have made enough noise about themselves, so much so that anything less than perfection was going to give them trouble.

    The album opens with ‘New Year’s Day’ and it does have a memorable opening and chorus. It soon becomes clear that ‘Viva Brother’ are a band you’re either going to love or hate.  Current single ‘Still Here’ follows and by the time we get to ‘David’, it seems with free downloads and previous releases, we’ve probably already heard the best tracks on the album.

    ‘Viva Brother’ are obviously a lads band, rooted in the Oasis vs Blur britpop era but their gritted up Oasis stylings and Lee Newell’s shouty vocals get a little tiresome, which is a pity since the band managed to deliver live. What’s missing here is the energy the band ooze on stage.

    Half way through the album, we get the pick me up of ‘Darling Buds Of May,’ which stands head and shoulders above the tracks either side of it. Unfortunately, the non singles become predictable, with guitar hooks and lyrics becoming formulaic. Pity, I was hoping for this to be good so I could see Newell stick up his two fingers at everyone. (more…)

  • Ben Glover: Trick of The Light Review

    BenGLover - Trick of the lightBen Glover is an interesting chappy, from Co. Antrim he headed off to Nashville two years ago. That had followed his release with ‘The Week The Clocks Changed’ which featured appearances by Jim Lauderdale and the legend that is, Vince Gill.

    ‘Trick of the Light’is the first single from his new album ‘Before The Birds’. The track has a slow upbuild led by Glover’s vocals accompanied by subtle guitars. Glover’s vocals remain the centre focus of the track with instrumentation remain subtle. Something about it reminds me of the aforementioned Vince Gill’s ‘I Still believe in you’. ‘Trick of The Light’ has a laid back feel, not a lazy one but it gives the impression that this is easy for Glover and shows an seasoned professional.

    The title of Glover’s album is taken from track 2 on the disc, ‘I Am With You’ where Glover continues with his laid back vibe. It’s easy to see Ryan Adams comparisons. Featuring piano, the track is spacious and Glover stretches his vocals a little giving enough here to look forward to the album.