The Sound of the Ladies – We Went to the Bottom of the Ocean
Whenever anyone sings vaguely in the style of an old-fashioned crooner these days they tend to get compared to Richard Hawley. I suppose that’s because there just aren’t that many people doing that kind of stuff, so I guess the comparisons aren’t quite that easy to come by. Hawley has a certain lushness in common with the likes of Cherry Ghost, which is notably absent here. Consequently, apart from perhaps implying a certain commonality of influences, I am not sure that any of these comparisons really apply here, despite the fact that they do spring to mind quite quickly.
The subject matter, turn of phrase and slightly harsh edge to some of the lyrics also move this away from the likes of Cousteau and Hawley and so on, and perhaps suggest more of a garage-born relative of The Real Tuesday Weld.
It’s possible that the necessarily DIY recording methods give this much more of an edge than most things you’d end up comparing it to, but whilst the guitar sound may be a little harsh at times, I still think it sounds really nice. In any case, the breadth of expression serves to nicely sand the edges off any roughness in the arrangements, recording and also the vocal, which perhaps lacks the honeyed warmth of a lot of people who are drawn to singing in this style.
There are some absolute fucking corkers on this album. In general I tend to be drawn towards the slower tunes, although the title track is about as good as it gets here and is certainly no shrinking violet. There are times, such as the odd moment in the middle of Department of Homeland Security, Up! Went My Dreams and Every Single One when I think a bit more variety of texture could be helpful, but just as I start to think that the gorgeous Bank Burns Down arrives and everything is duly forgiven. I’ve been enjoying this record a lot recently, and while it may not be entirely consistent, when it’s good it is very, very good and, unusually, seems to get stronger as it goes along.
One look at Martin Austwick’s website shows you that he is a gentleman dedicated to all things DIY, doing podcasts, making videos and all sorts of other things. So, as well as the usual digital downloads and so on there still appear to be copies of a really gorgeous-looking limited edition, hand-printed CD available from the band’s Bandcamp page.
In a way this remind me of why the digital revolution has been so good: it has made the mp3 the commodity medium of delivery, and hence liberated the CD to become something more special and genuinely worth owning, something which would not have been financially viable when you had to make hundreds and thousands of the bloody things.
The Sound of the Ladies – We Went to the Bottom of the Ocean
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The Sound of the Ladies – Bank Burns Down
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