Glenn Williams
MUSIC WRITER IN JAPAN
ALBUM
SMILING IVY
ALL JOKES ASIDE
Independent release
Smiling Ivy have been around for the best part of two decades, getting together when and if they feel like it to have a good time with a load of musical instruments. In these days where every band needs to be labelled, categorised, and loaded into a genre, this Sheffield five-piece ignore all of that and just get on with writing great music but if you do want a reference, let’s go with Punkyskarockfusionfunkdub (expialidocious)…with a bit of Calypso.
Still with me? Seriously, these guys really know how to write a good song and All Jokes Aside, has fourteen, very enjoyable tunes that you can’t help but move around to. Highly listenable and danceable, the grooves are smooth arrangements, spacious and friendly; they will put smiles on your face. Consisting essentially of a bunch of mates from schooldays, Steve Hunt (d), Dan Hobson (g), Sam Dormer (v) (lead g), Jimmy Kohanzad (b) and Ray Grandy (sax, bv) play music that if you hear when strolling passed a pub they are playing, will draw you in.
Having known each other for so long, they are musically a tight unit. They are competent musicians but put the emphasis on the feel of a song rather than displaying their own abilities. That said, there are some delightful moments of individuality including the guitar parts in Status And Statues and the sax intro to Starting Slow. Over My Head is simple combination of vocals, acoustic guitar and haunting harmonica beautifully delivered whilst Overnight Guru has an infectious bassline/drum rhythm you can’t ignore. Then again, when they kick-off as a unit as in 1366, the power of the quintet is unforgiving; the lead vocals flit effortlessly throughout.
The production is clean with great use of simple effects. The reverb will, at times, put you with them in a seedy back room somewhere in a not very desirable part of town and at other times, place you in a Jazz club on the Upper East Side of New York. The use of stereo fills out your hi-fi and also gives a stark clarity to everybody’s parts; the running order is as good as you can get and flows like a gig set list.
This is a fun album, written and recorded with the music in mind and not commercial success. Back in the 1970s in the UK, it would have been labelled ‘Pub Rock’ and as with most of the Pub Rock bands, Smiling Ivy deserve a lot more success than they actually have. However, like Brinsley Schwarz’s and The Rumour’s albums, All Jokes Aside will be hanging around for a long time, for future generations to discover. Timeless music that you should discover now.
Track list
Taking Liberties
2nd Best
Circles
1366
Status And Statues
New Young Rebels
Fuck Paradise
Quid In The Jukebox
Starting Slow
Overnight Guru
No Reality
Over My Head
The Great Getaway
All Jokes Aside
ALBUM
BOBBIE DAZZLE
FANDABIDOZI
Rise Above Records
Prediction: Bobbie Dazzle are going to be very big indeed.
It’s not often an album comes out where every track is as good as every track but that is exactly what Bobbie Dazzle’s debut is. Ten, beautifully crafted and recorded songs that hark back to the golden era of Glam in the seventies but with a massive overhaul on the genre to bring it into the twenty-first century.
Back in the 1970s when the BBC were looking for a title for their new music show, the chose ‘Old Grey Whistle Test’ which came from the days of Tin Pan Alley when a new record would be played to the elderly gentlemen in grey suits who worked there. Known as ‘the old greys’ if they were still whistling the tune the next day, the record company knew it would be a hit. These days we have a noun for it – earworm.
I tell you this because on this album has earworms galore. Verses and hooks and choruses, that swirl through your head on the first listening and are firmly in there by the third - and very welcome they are too! Lightening Fantasy is a blistering opener with so much power musically it’s impossible to ignore but then slips down into a slower section before picking up the pace again with solos and a sprint to the end. It’s four and a half minutes of attention-grabbing energy, that vocalist Bobbie grabs and sours along with and speaking of Bobbie’s voice – wow! This lady is melodic, has expression, vibrato and a seemingly effortless, powerful range that many in the charts will envy. Merry-Go-Round is vocal dexterity at its finest; Antique Time Machine is a showcase for her control and ability to deliver at speed with diction.
The musicians are obviously all technically excellent and can play at supersonic speed as can be heard on It’s Electric but they also all know how to serve a song without over playing. It’s not ‘less is more’ as there is an awful lot going on, it’s that they have an ability to recognise light and shade, a characteristic that Rock and Pop songs used to have and most don’t these days. What this does is give the melody line and backing vocals, much more room and hence those marvellous hooks I mentioned previously. Listen to April Showers and Flowers On Mars you’ll see what I mean and there’s another thing: this is an album that you actually listen to. Excellently produced and mixed, the clarity of every part is an audio delight. That last song closes the album and it is a song that will leave you wanting more, taking you back to the start, so I will as well…
Prediction: Bobbie Dazzle are going to be very big indeed.
Track List
Lightning Fantasy
Merry-Go-Round
Revolution
Magic of Music
Back to the City
It’s Electric
Antique Time Machine
Lady on Fire
April Showers
Flowers on Mars