Foxy’s Farm by The Safety Of Life At Sea is a genre diverse and genre defying album cosily wrapped up for your delectation. The intro track, ‘New Orleans’, takes you straight to that city with some clever use of brass and woodwind fused with some early rock n roll. Where do these ideas come from? The song comes visually alive and the vocals just give that certain sound of yesteryear; a very cleverly produced and performed track. The keyboard playing holds the whole track together without swamping it.
With a total of ten tracks on this album, SOLAS have shown how creative they can be and ‘Take You Home’ is a good example of this; the guitars come in hitting you unexpectedly but at just the right moment. The keyboard playing has the hallmark of one Leon Russell in his younger days and in fact one could say that his spirit lives on in this album as elements of the 70s are suddenly thrust up against the sounds of 2017.
‘Moira’ is very radio friendly and is one of those ‘pop’ songs (and no, that is not meant detrimentally) one could imagine many established acts wanting to get their hands on; tough…it’s taken!
Further on into the album one comes across ‘Sing For Me’ which has that slightly Southern feel to it and if Richards/Jagger had written this it would be a shining star in their repertoire. This again shows how SOLAS are capable of writing songs for themselves but also have that uncanny knack of having written material which one can imagine others performing and not all writers are capable of this.
The whole album gently rolls from one track into another demanding a second listening and finalises, very subtly, with ‘So Dog Tired’.
There is nothing dog tired about this album at all and it requires ardent listening so that one can take in all the melodies, lyrics, subtleties and musical interaction.
This should be in your collection and if not, well…there’s a wasted space there.
 
Tony Bates
Uncut and Unsigned
www.3MDR.com

Who said 13 is an unlucky number? Whoever it was has not taken the liberty of listening to The Hollerin’ Sluggers latest release, GYPSY MOJO. Unlike the Kardashians, there’s no filler here whatsoever, just good ol’ blues infused rock.
Train to Nowhere is somewhat reminiscent of a Bad Company number that they never got around to either record or write! The Hollerin’ Sluggers know how to construct a song and deliver it powerfully without going overboard; no false economies here and there is no sight of a synth (fortunately) anywhere. This is ballsy music made for all to enjoy. True music as the maestros of this genre performed back in the heady days of the 70’s.
‘Shut Up And Dance’ is a song for our times with powerful lyrics and revivalist rock that sets The Hollerin’ Sluggers apart from others; take in that percussion and listen to those guitars inter-weaving with the vocals, outstanding!
That harp on ‘Hush Hoggies’ would not be amiss on an early Yardbirds’ track, but the guys have, again, made this their very own and the guitar work that follows would easily please the likes of Mick Taylor. Harp The Hollerin’ Sloggers Sing!
The other tracks are of the same high standard, so listen out for that acoustic guitar playing and you’ll know that this is a band that has no bounds.
Many might aspire to such a recording, but they would have had to be highly disciplined and dedicated musos to come out with anything like this. This is an album of musical intuitiveness and not one of contrivance.
Grab this album while you can and in years to come you can tell your grandchildren how real music sounded!
 
Tony Bates
Uncut and Unsigned
3MDR.com 97.1 FM

Scotty Mac is not a brand of raincoat but is a relatively new brand in the world of Australian Music and I have witnessed his work progress over the years.
I can sit back now and feel amazed at the way Scott has mastered so many different instruments and the way he has taken to song writing; he is one of those people who totally immerses himself in his work-plays hard and gigs hard too.
Complicated Generation has some very mature lyrics and is a dissertation upon current ‘youth’, almost article like but the music carries it through to make it a song of our times. Scott’s music has that uncanny ability to include a retro feel but is totally modern; a sound many others might well aspire too.
On listening to Out In The Rain one could almost imagine that this could have been an early Cat Stevens/Yusuf Islam song as it has that same continuing story within it and the bass line plays along beautifully adding an additional dimension to a song that deserves wider attention and appreciation.
Scott’s music is also very visual and conjures up images of his lyrical content and there are not many up and coming or even established musos who have that ability. I forecast a bright future for Scott and wish him well on his journey-one that is only just starting but he is already well ahead of many of his contemporaries.
Song writing is not easy these days for independent musos, as there is so much competition and one needs that certain edge to get ahead of the crowd. Scott’s music has the ability to do this and when one considers that these are home recordings imagine how a full studio production could alter these numbers. So if there are any producers out there looking for some hit material, go knocking on Scott’s door before others beat you there!
Tony Bates
Uncut and Unsigned
www.3MDR.com

I LEFT MY HEART IN AFRICA is Seraya Young’s latest musical journey which started with THE PRODIGAL DAUGHTER and the intervening years have seen more releases and more musical inventiveness.
I Left My Heart in Africa is not a diary of a time lost nor of regret, but it does have an inner message not only for Seraya, but for us the listeners too.
‘Peace, Love and Understanding’ starts off with some haunting chords and then goes electro with a lyrical visit to the past; a very personal visit but one that is relevant to us all and if you have (still) the inner hippy in you, this track will resonate, especially in these current troubled times. Words and lyrics have a power of their own and by taking in songs such as this we could all become better people…..but then that is, perhaps, the inner hippy in me.
‘Let’s Go Retro’ starts off with both the music and Seraya singing straight at you from the moment the track starts. We all, at times, tend to look back and whilst this track relates to that it brings the present very much into context too. There’s a great musical mix going on in the background and the groove is there to get you moving, perhaps involuntarily so!
By bringing C-FO Bailey onto ‘Sista Earth’, Seraya adds a different dimension to her song writing and performance. He endorses the message within the song, but the song, whilst being totally apolitical pleads with us all to respect our only planet. There is no preaching or threat here, purely common sense : ‘We CAN turn this ship around’ sings Seraya and if it fails to move you I suggest you take a few moments out and listen to the track again later on. This could be the ‘protest’ song that our times need and I hope that Seraya’s lyrics catch on and make one think.
Having read all of the above, do not fall into the trap of thinking that this is hippy clap-trap or leftist propaganda; this is music with a message at its best and we can enjoy it all the more so for being brutally honest as well as it being open to one’s own interpretation.
Seraya started off as a Singer/Songwriter in the alt folk genre and despite the use of technology on these tracks, this EP is still a measurable form of folk music as it carries a tale with it. The bards of yesteryear would be proud to see that their means of carrying messages to distant people and villages is alive and well in the hands of Seraya.
 
 
Tony Bates
Uncut and Unsigned
3MDR.com

DUSKEN LIGHTS
IN THE SERVICE OF SPRING

Phoenix like, Dusken Lights have arisen from the ashes of two well remembered (for all the right reasons) bands, being The Cannanes and Rabbits Wedding.
Paul O Watling has gathered his cohorts together and Francesca Bussey, Philip Rawlinson and Alex Salter are now Dusken Lights, a band full of lush harmonies, rich production and sometimes dark meanderings.
Unlike many of their contemporaries, there are no fillers on this album – not a cavity in sight!
Opening with Superman, Wondergirl the band have performed a track that Simon and Garfunkle would have been proud to have recorded back in those heady days of folk, folk rock and all of its sideshoots. To place the band in the indie/alternative folk genre is a bit of a misnomer as this band are purely expanding folk as many have done before, except they are taking it further; folk, like the English language, is an ever evolving entity and Dusken Lights are proving to be maestros within this field.
Immerse yourself in the lyrical content of IN THE SERVICE OF SPRING and let the melody flow around you; Sun Above might seem dark, but it is not bleak, a mistake often made by other composers. It is musically tight and full of sound phraseology.
Mother Nature Wants Him Dead is, in its own way, a protest song but does not immediately hit you as one; ‘Now the wind carries a message-mother nature wants him dead’; beautifully phrased, immaculately sung and played with a message for us all. Minstrels of olden days often carried songs around the country with them, full of stories such as this and more; these are tales we should all listen to, but will we?
Dusken Lights traverse the folk field and follow in the steps of Guthrie, Seeger, Baez, Pentangle, Dylan and Donovan gradually moving and nudging the genre into new areas; areas that we might seem familiar with but which upon listening are new, exciting and poignantly relevant.
There’s more, but you need to purchase this album now and it does not matter if you are not a folk aficionado as Dusken Lights will aurally accompany you into realms anew.
Tony Bates
Uncut and Unsigned
Wwww.3MDR.com

Oh…the youth of today. They hang around in shopping malls, in city squares, they’re disrespectful and what’s more……..

So, let me start by saying what this band does not represent :

Indie-Landfill

Bubblegum

Elevator muzak

Washing Machine Gludge.

When I first received an EP from these guys, I took no notice of anything related to their age, at that time, and just listened. I took me a further two takes to really get into the music as I could not believe what I had initially heard, which is somewhat unusual for me.

On the band’s Facebook page the description is given as follows:  ‘Just an Australian teenage rock grunge band...’ 

Not so – please remove, re-phrase that.  Pour quoi? The answer is that this band has talent, tightness and teenage years on their side. The lyrical writings/musings of Harry Wall are outstanding and show a deep understanding of a craft that has been in the making for far more years than he has been on this planet. Add to this his own vocals and guitar playing and interlace that with the vox and drumming of Connor, the bass playing of AJ and the finely tuned guitar playing of Angus and one has a band that is tighter than a fully pieced together jigsaw.

Am I being ageist in this review, just because they are young? No

Take a listen to tracks such as ALIBI and look back to the angst years of one Kurt Cobain, drift into LIGHTHOUSE (the title track) and hear the tightness of that rhythm section and take in the lyrics, next visit SO YOUNG, breath in that intro guitar, await the opening vocal and then try to imagine how The Doors and Jim Morrison could well have taken this track and made it one of their own.

The Brandy Project is a bunch of young guys who have found one another at the right time and place; their interpretations of Harry’s musical abilities are amazing and these guys should really be out there.

Due to some ridiculous legislation, The Brandy Project cannot play at over 18s only gigs as their average age is solely 15. Wake up, take this band on, give them a little bit of grooming, some specialised production and reap the rewards. There has to be a PR Agent out there who can see the not so latent talent that is there and who can get the band the gigs they truly deserve; they’d blow the arse off many an older established band anytime and under any circumstances!

https://www.facebook.com/TheBrandyProject

https://www.triplejunearthed.com/artist/brandy-project

Tony Bates-Uncut and Unsigned- www.3MDR.com