Surburban Dirts
The lead vocal of John Wheatley immediately had me thinking Kelly Jones Stereophonics, not a bad start, I wanted to know more. Turns out the band come from right here in Hertfordshire, Hoddeson to be precise and have been performing on the American/roots scene since 2011 as a 4 piece but have now expanded to six: John Wheatley- Lead vocal, accoustic guitar, harmonica, Chris Varley-Bass, David Austin-Drums,Vocals, David Moyes-Guitar, Jay Seymour-Keyboards & Joolz Addison-Violin, an extremely talented bunch who have a knack for storytelling both vocally and musically.
Eli is a track that quickly grows on you, it exudes a quality and warmth with lyrics I'm sure we can all relate to.
"And you never know what you've got coming, you can plan ahead, you know nothing, it's a miracle that you're here at all, now isn't that something?" If this is just a taster of what's to come, April can't come soon enough. I decided to do some digging into the bands back catalogue and was surprised to come across a track called "All Of This" from their 2013 album "A Tiny Little Island In The Big Bad Sea" Now apart from being a great track I can't help thinking that James Bay has totally ripped this number off with " Hold Back The River" Or is it just coincidence? ....I'll leave that up to you?
But once again it just goes to show the standard of the bands talent & material.
Another track to excite me and grab me by the nethers was "Lost In Transcription " with its Dylanesque vibe you'd be forgiven for thinking it was from the late 60's early 70's.
I'm muchly looking forward to reviewing the new album in the new year, but in the meantime you can check out the band and all their material for yourself and support them by following on Facebook Twitter YouTube & Spotify which I highly recommend.
If you like listening to good Music then please share and show them your support.
Til Next Time, Stay Blessed
Back Before Elvis.