Song, by Toad

I’ve had a few things sent in by people recently who sound like they are genuine readers of the site. It’s not always all that easy to tell, but Tom from Bearfaced Records pretty much has to be genuine, I reckon. And he told me I was great, which erm… well you should all know what a vain and superficial blowhard I am by now.

Anyway, Tom has an acoustic EP out called One Guitar & a Whole Lot of Whining which I have yet to hear, but the songs below are preliminary mixes from his forthcoming album which sounds rather promising to my ears. If I had criticisms I think they would be that the lyrics on So Sorry are just a little bit repetitive, but that’s just me. Bedroom Nerves is excellent, and I reckon the transition from acoustic to a full(ish) band with bass and drums has worked well. I can’t tell you what it is I like about this – the chord progressions seem to be sort of unhurried and confident, I think. But someone with more knowledge than I about how music actually goes together may well be able to correct me on that.

Tom’s vocal delivery is a little bit of an acquired taste, but I’m a little wary of saying so because every singer I know who is told that tends to become obssessively paranoid about it. It is not, I must stress, a bad thing. Some of my favourite singers have really distinctive voices. You want your music to have its own personality so why wouldn’t you want a voice that’s a bit different?

Anyhow, readers of Toad, meet Bearfaced Records and Eaten by Monsters. I am quite new to their stuff but I’d say it was rather promising, wouldn’t you?

Eaten by Monsters – Bedroom Nerves
Eaten by Monsters – So Sorry

Buy from Bearfaced Records