Reviews roundup – Eddie Reader vs. Tide vs. Fankhauser Cassidy vs. Reacta
EDDI READER
Vagabond
Reveal
Nowadays, Eddie Reader as a singer seems to be overshadowed by the shrill political pronouncements that she delivers like sermons from the mount. Coupled with the single worst Question Time appearance ever, it detracts from the one thing she does well. And that’s sing.
I find it hard to divorce the two, but it’s worth the effort on this, her tenth solo album. Thankfully, she has also abandoned the overrated words of Robert Burns. Or rather the words he transcribed, then claimed as his own. Instead she’s went back to making a folk pop album that is well worth a listen.
At it’s best, there are some joyous moments, especially when the accordion gets dragged oot for a hee-haw. The album highlight is the delightful ‘Back The Dogs (Dancing Down Rock)’, but it’s closely pursued by the wonderfully evocative ‘Snowflakes In The Sun’. Granted, there are three or four songs which could have been culled, but that’s all that stops this album from being great.
Back to what she does best, God help us come September, if Doomsday arrives.
TIDE
No. 4
Blimey, but we get around. And it’s off to Slovenia for some skyscraping modern rock. The band actually formed back in 1998 in Amsterdam, but they came back to Slovenia to release their debut album in 2005, leading to this, which you may have guessed, is their fourth album.
They’re quite big over in Slovenia, having support the likes of Slash (Guns n’ Roses), Iron Maiden and Uriah Heep, but there is absolutely no reason why they shouldn’t be making a splash over here. See they’ve got that whole Kings Of Leon meets Foo Fighters thing going that gets an awful lot of people over excited.
For sure, it doesn’t rock my boat, but you can see why songs like ‘Awakening’ and ‘Love Is Gone’ have hit single stamped all the way through their particular stick of rock. Regional MTV loves them, and if they could get themselves on a playlist over here, then the world could be theirs for the taking.
http://www.tide-band.com/index.html
FANKHAUSER CASSIDY
On The Blue Road
Gonzo
Merrell Fankhauser is, apparently, a surf guitar legend, and the late Ed Cassidy was. of course, the drummer with seventies legends Spirit. And I assume it’s the ‘late’ aspect that has inspired this re-release.
This material has been out before in assorted formats, and sees the duo, may years after their prime lending their names to a sometimes pedestrian blues rock band. To be fair, there are some diamonds in amongst the rough, but when they wheel out ‘Bright Lights Big City’ and ‘Walking The Dog’, you really do have to ask why.
Things take a turn for the better when some magic is sprinkled hither and thither by passing guests such as John McEuen from the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and Pete Sears (Jefferson Starship, Hot Tuna), and it’s the original material that makes your ears prick up slightly. Add in a brief interview over on CD 2 with Ed Cassidy, and it just about passes muster. But it’s the kind of thing you’ll dip into, rather than take in at one sitting.
BUY AT AMAZON
REACTA
Refraction
Alaric Records
We get around here at Zeitgeist, and now we’re off to the city of Aguascalientes in Mexico for some prog tinged alternative rock. So if you’re on the look out for a band to impress your Coldplay and Radiohead loving chums with, then this is the place to be.
They are at their proggiest (and their best) on the 12 minutes of ‘Complication’, which shows just how good they are musically. It’s dramatic without being overwrought, and is a real treat. Elsewhere, you can smell the U2 vibe, and the shorter songs like ‘Back Home’ and ‘Sound Of Drums’ don’t work for me.
As they started life as an instrumental band, it’s those passages that really shine, although singer Merrit Williams can more than hold his own. There are some nu-metal influences showing through in places, but at least they sound like their own band, regardless of influences.
The Rocker - The Artist Formerly Known As Zeitgeist. TAFKAZ 
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