Reviews roundup – Alan Simon vs. Cara Being Blue vs. Wet Dreams vs. Spy#Row vs. Ellis Mano Band vs. Project
ALAN SIMON
Chouans
Babaika
The late Mrs H saw Les Miserables more times than is good for anyone. Me, I would gladly kill to see Man of La Mancha or Wildhorn, Bricusse and Cuden’s Jekyll & Hyde. And why has no-one brought Dracula l’Amour Plus Fort que la Mort to the UK? Bastards. So the thought of a French Revolution set musical by Alan Simon, whose Excalibur series of concept albums are delightful, seems like a no-brainer, out and out winner to me. And it is.
Because if you like of the shows mentioned above then you’re really going to like this. The music is dark and melodramatic as befits the storyline. And here’s Alan Simon to tell you about it;
“It’s the dark side of the French Révolution! The unknown pages! 300 000 people died. Mainly paysans, priest and some nobles. They were killed in the west of France (where I was born). It’s the last french civil war! The very young republic just created the humans rights and 18 months later Paris the national assembly gave the orders to march on the district call ‘Vendée’. That’s was where most of the royalists were leaving. But mostly poor people! That’s the history! This is the first historical album about this history! It’s an hidden story. No one is proud about it!”
The band, choir and vocal sololists are certainly all up to the challenge of bringing the story to life. There’s a selection of progsters that fans of Euro prog with long memories will recall as they set about fusing the worlds of musical theatre, prog and rock with reckless abandon. It veers from prog to symphonic with ease and even though I have absolutely no idea what they’re singing about, what with them singing in furrin tongues, the music sets the mood and tone throughout. Apart from King George III pops in for a tune.
It’s beautifully presented in a delightfully illustrated package with a lyric booklet. Chouan himself remains a historical mystery which makes it much easier to tell a story. Just ask Robin Hood. But this is a story. And a well told one which makes the jazzhands in me a very happy man.
CARA BEING BLUE
Grit
independent
The nom de guerre of Cara Lippman, this is her debut full length album, following on from an earlier EP.
Rather cheerily, the album is dedicated to two of her friends who died from cancer. The title track, in particular, was written for them. All the songs are originals, written or co-written by Ms Lippman and there are some good ones in the mix. There is also a really good band which mainly comprises Val Lupescu, lead and rhythm guitar; Eric Robert, organ; Jonathan Nixon, bass; Flip Winfield, drums; Miqui Gutierrez, sax; Varney Greene, trombone, Tim Gonzalez, harmonica; and background vocalist Mandy Vixen. There are a few special guests in there including guitarist Jack Pearson who had a couple of short stints with the Allman Brothers Band in the nineties.
She doesn’t have a standout voice but handles the material well. So when one of the better tunes comes along it’s a fine listen. In places it teases the boundaries between blues-rock, classic rock and southern rock, something that really lifts tunes like ‘Crocodile Man’ and ‘Leave Me In Flames’. Things don’t work out as well when things slow down so the double header of ‘One Day’ and ‘You Don’t Wanna’ doesn’t really work. They should have been sequenced well apart. But the light funky feel of ‘Skippin’ Stone’ does work and has some really tasty guitar and piano.
The retro soul vibe of ‘Kind Kinda Man’ is a treat as well with some more great piano and some honking horns. It’s not all gold but when it is, then it really glitters.
WET DREAMS
Wet Dreams
Black Pop
Yeah, that name is going to work real well in the modern world of internet filters. Why not call yourself Spunk Rag and be done with it. Although I would imagine my stats are about to go through the roof.
But then again this is a side project from Sebastian Ulstad Olsen whose main gig is in Death By Unga Bunga so thinking through band names is obviously not his strong suit. He reckons these songs didn’t fit in with his main gig. Now I heard “So Far So Good So Cool”, their last album and, to be honest, I’m toiling to hear the difference.
Maybe after over ten years he just fancied a change but fans of the rough and ready garage rock of the Bungas will find themselves right at home here. Because that’s what it is and if you like That Sort of Thing then you will like this. So lots of rather groovy riffs, less groovy vocals, a few melodies you’ll remember and even slight step to the stoner left on album highlight ‘Blueslata’. and almost as good ‘Her’.
Unlike most side projects where the protagonist decides to make a jazz odyssey, this really is Death By Any Other Name.
SPY # ROW
Blood Brothers
Fast Ball
A strange one this. And I don’t just mean the really, really stupid name.
Musically, it’s a strange one as well. See, the guitars are straight out of the world of eighties glam metal. But the vocals are late nineties pop-punk. Which is nice if you’d ever wished that Deryck Whibley had been the singer in Guns ‘n’ Roses. Hell, they’ve even got a lighter in the air power ballad.
Which means I liked it. I shouldn’t really as I hated pop-punk. But when the riffs are as good as the ones on offer here I can’t fight the feeling (and yet I’m still afraid to let it flow). A German trio, two of whom are brothers (hence the name), the CD booklet manages to pull off a clever feat in not telling you anything. Like who plays what or who wrote the songs. You know the little things. But according to that there internet they’ve been a band for 14 years despite the youngest member being 21 years old. I think that’s called lying. This is their debut album and it’s got a strong, punch production to push those eighties anthems along.
…Sorry, got distracted there as I played the Big Ballad, ‘If You Say You Love Me’ for the sixth straight time. Right, it’s the old school tunes that work best. When they try to dial the punky side up as on ‘Forever’ it doesn’t work as well.
Hand on heart though, if they want to hit the big time I’d think about getting a better singer in. I know it’s tricky when he’s one of the brothers but there are a lot of limitations there. Because there are half a dozen songs here that would sound great on a festival stage and it would be a shame to let the songs go to waste. Especially ‘Heartbreaker’ which is going to sound great with 30,000 festival fans singing along.
Definitely worth investigating if you’re looking for some new old stuff.
ELLIS MANO BAND
Here And Now
independent
I’ve often wondered what all the session musicians, who have to pretend they’re enjoying themselves as some no-mark television wannabee murders a classic tune, think about while they’re paying the bills.
Now I’m not saying that the members of the Ellis Mano Band are like that but they are all vastly experienced musicians who for many years backed other artists on their albums, TV shows and concert tours. Well seasoned, they are.
But they’ve obviously thought it’s time to get their own music out there before it’s too late and it turns out that their music involves blues influenced seventies classic rock. You know, a Bad Company kind of vibe. Even better, not only do they pull it off, but they go for a post Paul Rodgers vibe which was my favourite BC era (“Here Comes Trouble” kills!). Because this is a fabulous listen.
There are ten original songs and vocalist Chris Ellis, guitarist Edis Mano, bassist Severin Graf, and drummer Nico Looser really put their heart and soul into them. Chris Ellis has a great voice, well suited to they style they’re pursuing. The arrangements give him plenty of room before Edis Mano invariably jumps in with a well rounded guitar part. The title track is absolutely stunning as are ‘Goodbye My Love’ and ‘A Lifetime’. There is a lot of world weariness and regret on this record which I assume comes with age. I know it does with me but you do get the feeling they know what they’re talking about.
There are a couple of moments where they try to be modern rock with ‘Where We Belong’ the biggest culprit but by and large they stick to being moody and magnificent. Gratifyingly (for me) they keep their most Bad Company moment for the Hammond drenched ‘Bad Water’. It may be late in the day but they can hold their heads high, point at this and go “I did that”.
PROJECT
Off The Road
Brennus Music
Seriously? You’ve called your band Project and expect people to be able to find you on that there superhighway? Fat chance.
Anyway, they’re French, they originally formed in the nineties, released an album, split for most of the noughties and then got back together with albums released in 2013 and 2016. Fundamentally they’re guitarist and keyboardist Philippe Merlen and vocalist / guitarist David Clabaux with the latter seemingly responsible for most of the tunes. I’ve got no idea how good they were as a rock band because this is an acoustic mini-album with a couple of old songs and a couple of new ones.
It’s very soft rock-ish rather than folk rock-ish and it’s nice. That’s not to damn them but unless you are the greatest songwriter ever then acoustic soft rock will remain nice. The band perform them well and it’s got an excellent sound so props to the band for the self production. ‘You Keep On Cryin’ from their “Riding Free” album is the real highlight. It sounds a bit like a long lost Steelheart power ballad which is a good thing, in case you’re wondering.
The guitar work is uniformly excellent and I’ve no doubt that fans of the band will be well served by this.
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