Woah, mama!!!

I was looking through my hard disk and found this old review which I did for Keith for his e-zine almost 4 years ago. Hahaha, it's kinda weird as he's helping out with mine. But he's an amazing writer and all-round walking rock'n'roll encylopedia.

Anyways, here's my review of Doves' 'Lost Broadcast'. By the way, the British band will be playing at DXO, the Esplanade Mall on (Wed?) 20 July. Gracie sweetie, fire up your burner. I'm getting the album from you! Heh!

Doves/The Last Broadcast

Confessions of a reformed indie wanker

It is probably my loss that I did not catch Doves’ debut album, ‘Lost Souls’. The sophomore effort pretty much rocks. Doves does not really have that an unique sound, resembling most bands residing in that genre termed as Brit pop. They just sound miserable most of the time. But, hey, everybody loves a miserable Brit, Ian Curtis, Morrisey, Thom Yorke, etc. So, they rule, for now. What? You wanna know about the music? Who they sound like?

Well, for starters, the latest single, ‘Pounding’, my favourite track in the album is cloned from Pulp’s 95 album ‘Different Class’ complete with a funky guitar break in the middle of the song. However, the breakthrough single here would be ‘There Goes The Fear’. Its plaintive pleas of “close your brown eyes/ and lay down next to me” is plainly seductive, backed by a lush guitar appregio .Dealing with the age-old issue of “punani” problems, Jimi Goodwin attempts to torment his female with an excellent line which could easily backfire upon him: “Think of me when you close your eyes/ Don’t look back when you break all ties”. Regret is often bittersweet.

‘Words’, to me, is stronger than “There Goes The Fear’ in terms of structure and melody. With words so positive, they could even fall into the emo category, not that I’m acquainted with that type of music at all. After a few spins, you can’t help but singing along with the chorus, “I said, words, they mean nothing/ So you can’t hurt me”. A real karoke song in its heart. The gentle ‘M62 Song’ is an adaptation of a King Crimson’s tune, ‘Moonchild’. Cascading slowly like a lullaby, it swoons and pulls the listener in for a gentle flow. Great tune sung with great heart.

It kind of reminds me of the days when I was an indie wanker back in the golden days of my JC life. Back then, I was not even listening to a wide palate of music and yet, putting down others on their personal choices of listening habits. Ah, those good old days… 7.5 --- Willy Wanker