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- May 2007
- Rating: 6/10
Lennon-esque psych-folk pop, and teeny bit more.
Whilst recuperating in bed for two years from a serious spinal injury five years ago,Robert Harrison clearly had a musical vision. During his enforced sabbatical,he conjured the idea of making an album, in this case a double, a bold move fora debut as FC&R.
Better known as leader of Austin-based cult-reggae-heroes Cotton Mather, Harrisonhas veered towards ’60s Beatles, and John Lennon in particular. Its not a coversalbum, but an undisputed tribute to Lennon, deliberate or not. We also dont knowwhether there will be a follow-up, which begs the question, what will influenceHarrison next time around?
Vocally, hes dead-ringer for the ex-Beatle. If there is a Beatles album to be acknowledgedits probably the White Album. Not wishing to make a straight copy, hes mercuriallythrown in some indigenous nuances, which gravitate towards folk-pop, though notas off the radar as the likes of Devendra Banhart, for example.
Harrison can do the moody-reflective thing juxtaposed by more accessible pop, withboth styles working splendidly making it a fascinating listen. As with doublestheres a propensity to cram, and use fillers, so theres the odd track that doesthat, which is a minor criticism. Musically, Harrison isnt scared of throwingin orchestration, fuzzy guitars, and organ to beef-up the presentation of the songswhich are very well crafted.
Starting with Bird Of Prey, a shifting R&B style ballad with splashes ofbrass, its a pretty cool opening, segued by lightweight Beatles-like rockerLet Me Get Your Coat, whereas Hurricane Judy has more of apsychedelic twist with wiry guitar solos. Adding a tiniest touch of subtle reggae,This Really Is A Book could sit nicely next to Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds.
If theres a single here, it has to be You Will Be Loved featuring rippling guitarbreaks and strings and catchy chorus, with a massive brass blast mid-way. Out ofthe blue arrives Holy Janet… a thumping pop-rocker featuring a scintillatingriff and edgey solos.
Best track of disc 1 is the cute slow shuffle of Green Mountain Clovefeaturing some haunting piano work that leads out the song. Ending with acode-switch, he tries his hand at rockabilly blues, which is out of context,but refreshing from the rest of the entire album, even if its a mere 1 minute25 seconds.
Going back to the filler, he needlessly reprises Quicksilver as 2, and furtherin Letters To Junius and Cowboy Weather are just pointless. Dirtypower riffs hail Get Your Bootz On, a strikingly original compositionwith Build Havana bringing on shades of Hall & Oates, except for thevocal. Its a great, neat pop song.
More psych-folk returns with the sweeping string arrangement of Malice Of Stars,and again, Lennon (and even Oasis, who theyve already supported) isnt too faraway: no surprises there then. After Altitude he struggles (double albumsyndrome creeping in) but picks up form by CD 2s end, with, yep you guessed it,Beatles-esque Safety Zone.
File under: Interesting, especially for Beatles fans.
See the Amazon link above for the full track listing.
Weblinks:futurecloudsandradar.com /thestarapplekingdom.com
Elly Roberts passed away in 2011, but he was a man who was so passionate about all types of music and loved meeting his musical heroes, such as Mick Hucknall at a book signing at the Trafford Centre, Manchester in 2007.
A former teacher and also a music journalist, DJ and radio presenter on local community station Calon FM, plus appearances on BBC Radio Wales, BBC Radio Cymru and BBC Radio 2, Elly started doing reviews for DVDfever.co.uk in 2004 and he did the majority of the CD and concerts reviews on the website.
I know also that he loved getting away for the summer to Spain and I hope that wherever he is now he is enjoying the hot sunshine and, as one of his friends has said on his Facebook page, that he is interviewing his musical heroes.