nessymon.com

Category: Music Review

  • Wishbone: Butterfly Review

    wishbone

    I did this for MusicReviewUnsigned when I get a direct link I will update.

    Butterfly is the debut album from Wishbone, a Dublin based rock act who are together since 2008. The band blend classic rock sounds with some grunge-ier elements.

    The album kicks off with ‘Waste’ an uptempo number, it’s good clean recording but it would help if the vocals were higher in the mix. Drop/Open tuning feature in ‘Tumbleweed’. A track that I think needs a little more direction instead of meandering along.

    Nineties grunge is quite apparent in ‘Blindman’, three tracks in and I think maybe a slight change in distorted guitar sound is needed. The band know how to work their vocal harmonies, as on ‘When Reality Becomes a Dream’, it maybe something they need to bring to the fore of their music a little more.

    The band have self produced their debut, perhaps an external producer would have added an extra sparkle. Putting an album out with the band is less than a year together is a bit of a gamble, although two have of the band have previously played together in other bands, it doesn’t really give time to build a following.

    The second half of the album pretty much follows as the first half did. The band are no doubt good musicians, I think the help of an outside producer on this album would have given the band an extra hand up the ladder.

    http://www.myspace.com/wishboneband

    http://wishboneband.webs.com/

    4 out of 6

  • David Turpin:The Bone Dance Review

    david turpin

    I did this for MusicReviewUnsigned. Direct Link HERE.

    One of the really good things about reviewing music is finding a little gem that you weren’t quite expecting! That can definitely be said of David Turpin’s The Bone Dance.

    Steming from the dance/electronica genre and citing Emily Bronte, Margot Kidder and Franz Marc as influences, Mr Turpin has a winner on his hands. Hints of, perhaps, Pet Shop Boys (Neil Tennant vocal style) are scattered throughout the track. Produced by the whizz that is Steve Shannon, I think Neosupervital has a contender to his Irish Electronica King throne. This one’s going on my Ipod!

    Taken from the forthcoming album, ‘Haunted!’, ‘The Red Elk’ is actually a sonic masterpiece with amazingly understated vocals. The addition and production of the string arrangement on this track bring it to a different level.

    David Turpin is my new favourite Irish Act! I cannot wait for the album!

    6 out of 6

    www.myspace.com/davidturpin

    Photo taken from here

  • Heirs to Nothing: Sucker Review

    heirs to nothing

    I wrote this for MusicReviewUnsigned
    Direct link HERE

    When someone you never met before suddenly sends you 10 megabytes of unsolicted music, you tend to think there might be two things going on. These guys are new to the game or it’s just plain desperation.

    Heirs to Nothing seem to be a band of contradictions, while their myspace page says they are from Galway, the email your reviewer received states their hometown is Limerick.

    Sucker (Driving Me Away) is their debut single, released in September and was better than I expected. It’s a standard AOR track starting with a guitar/vocal and then a drum build up.. I would have liked a bit more Umph when the track really kicks in. Recording and production are both clean, near the end of the track harmonies kick in, more of that earlier would have lifted the track a bit, as would brightening the drum sound.

    The other tracks the band included are Lover and Runaway. Lover starts like an 80’s throwback reminisent of Visage. About 2 minutes into the track the full pop sound comes to the fore. While Runaway is a definitely a more rock track but I think it needs to be at a faster tempo.

    Founded by Martin Bennett, the guys do still have a lot of growing to do and need to find exactly where they fit. I hope they are not releasing their debut too soon.

    www.myspace.com/heirstonothing

    3 out of 6

    Word of advice: Don’t send unsolicted material to ANYONE. Don’t CC, BCC your emails, we want to feel special. Make sure you have a proper biography and all information matches on all your publicly accesible sites. This could be the difference between being played on the radio and your material being binned.

    After re-reading the band’s email to me I’d like to point out that it said ‘hometown and Limerick’. Apologies but it was hard to read the whole thing being in one paragraph.

    Picture taken from the band’s myspace page

  • 202s: Who Cares About Sunshine ? Review

    202s

    I wrote this for MusicReviewUnsigned
    Direct link HERE

    Formed in 2007 and already signed in France to Le Son Du Maquis, 202s take us on a luscious journey with their single ‘Who Cares about Sunshine?’. I haven’t heard ‘Oohh la la la’ sound so good in a song in a long time.

    A laidback understated track, it features the ducet tones of Carly Sings and if the song was a visual format it would be reminiscent of lomography of the late 60s early 70s.

    Track 2 on this promo is what blows me away, ‘A Quoi Bon Le Soleil’, a French version of the song sounds like this is how it should always be sung. C’est magnifique!

    It should be interesting to see if our multicultured little nation actually gives the version en Francais a play or two on the radio. It deserves it.

    www.myspace.com/the202s

    5 out of 6