Len Price 3 - Christian In The Desert

  by Malcolm Carter

published: 27 / 3 / 2005

Label: Laughing Outlaw
Format: CDS

intro

Excellent 60's influenced garage rock from new Medway-based group the Len Price 3 which recalls both the Kinks and the Small Faces

Most music lovers feel that the music they grew up with is the best that was ever produced. Not quite in my teens when music changed forever during the early to mid 60's I don’t just feel that the music which sound-tracked my youth was the best ever; I know it for a fact. In spite of groups suddenly springing up everywhere it was a lot easier to keep track of even the most obscure band. There was no internet to find out about the latest groups, no all day music TV, no specialised radio stations; it was all done to local gigs, 'NME', 'Disc' and 'Music Echo', 'Rave' and word of mouth. Like everyone else I’m always searching for groups who can capture the sound of those days but still sound contemporary. Through the years there have been many young pretenders, some managed the job admirably; from the Jam after their third album, to Ocean Colour Scene (who are unfairly dismissed these days, they captured the sound, enthusiasm and feel of the 60's perfectly) and now the Len Price 3. It would take a far better man than I, or a much younger one, to get through a review of the Len Price 3 without mentioning the classic beat groups of the sixties like the early days of the Who or the Kinks or any one of the many less well known groups from that period who are only now gaining recognition via the flood of compilations now currently on sale. But the truth is that while the Len Price 3 wear their influences so openly they recapture that beat group sound of the early 60's so much better than any other group who has tried. From the Medway Delta in Kent, the Len Price 3 have gained a large following in that area where they play to packed venues and they have even supported the Libertines. You may have also caught them supporting fellow Medway act the Buff Medways in London. The music on this taster for their forthcoming album ‘Chinese Burn’ is that raw, punchy sound that used to blare out from many a suburban garage back in those golden days. Proudly boasting the legend ‘mono’ on the sleeve everything about this three track single recalls that period with affection. From the pop art sleeve to the opening riff which recalls ‘All Day And All Of The Night’ by the Kinks to those 60's influenced harmonies it’s all present and correct. There’s that snotty, punky edge which graced all the best songs from the beat boom era but like with the r’n’b flavoured tracks on say the Small Faces first (Decca) album the melody is never sacrificed in the quest to capture a live, gritty feel on record. The second song, Dorolia’, is more of the same not quite as strong as the lead track but one that many bands would be proud to call their own. But it’s the closing ‘Amsterdam’ which is the biggest surprise. An introspective song, which is surprise enough after the rough r’n’ b of the first two songs, this could have been pulled directly off ‘A Quick One’ or ‘Sell Out’ by the Who. Yes, it’s that good. Too short by half, lasting well under two minutes, it recalls that short period when the groups were abandoning their r’n’b roots but were still waiting in the queue for their place on the psychedelic magic bus. So that’s about 3 years of the 60's covered in 5 ½ minutes which is no mean feat when it’s done this well. One looks forward to the release of ‘Chinese Burn’ with anticipation.

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