ALBUM REVIEWS
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ALBUM REVIEWS |
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Stapleton
REST AND BE THANKFUL XTRA MILE RECORDINGS 5.5.08 @www.vanguard-online.co.uk If you like the lighter side of Idlewild, the rockier parts of Belle & Sebastian and the least-poppy works of Travis, Stapleton may well be to your liking. Hailing from Glasgow, the band are on their 4th album, and have built up a strong underground following, it just seems that commercial success is either undesired or unattained so far…. Their songs are of the shoe-staring Indie ilk, with clear lead guitar, fuzzy rhythm and prominent drums leading into Ryan Adams-esque verses and hum-along choruses. At their most mainstream (“Passing Place” and fan favourite “Chez Chef”) there are even parts that are fairly easy to pick up and sing along to. I really enjoyed this album, in a passive kind of way. It works as a semi-background track; something to listen to when you are distracted, or have something on your mind. The lyrics, when I zoned into them, are clever and perceptive, but the melody of Alistair Paxton’s voice is its best feature. It’s like an extra instrument leading an instrumental arrangement at times. So when we reach “Asking For You”, which is genuinely an instrumental track, it’s really not that surprising… It’s hard to pick out great tracks from this album, as they’re all as fairly good as each other. Worth buying for those evenings when you need to lie on the sofa with a beer and think of very little. www.myspace.com/stapleton |