Richard Snow - Tuesday Music

  by Anthony Middleton

published: 9 / 10 / 2008

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Richard Snow’s influences hang heavily over this re-release of his 2005 album which is full of catchy and memorable pop songs. Foremost among these influences is Brian Wilson whose presence is felt so heavily that at times it feels like a tribute, though certainly too respectful to be pastiche. There are other references, particularly Costello and the Beatles, but their effect are more restrained and taken somewhere relatively new. But on two numbers, 'You Said It' and 'And Then', the influence of Wilson does become something else. Having said that, it is well executed and Snow has a voice that is powerful and well used. 'You Said It' employs most of Wilson’s armoury of musical techniques. He did not invent the use of harmonic singing, but he did perfect it and few have ventured into similar territory for the simple reason that it seems to have become his property. More than that, so many of the musical elements remind me of' Pet Sounds', for instance when the song comes to a halt and then suddenly restarts with a new tempo the comparison is unavoidable. The instrumental track 'And Then' only lacks a dog barking and train going past. Ohterwise, there is much charm to this album. On 'Hard To Be Happy', the lyrics “its hard to be happy when your sad” is an innocent self evident aphorism, that reminds me someone… 'Lonesome Cowboy' is s fun country romp, which pleasantly changes pace a couple of times and features a sterling bit of whistling to boot. The only really poor moment comes with 'Days of Simplicity'. Snow, a man, I presume in his forties or thereabouts, descends to a mawkishly embarrassing nostalgia trip to the days when, apparently, records didn’t have picture sleeves – “so no one really cared if the singer shook her ass or not…”. Unspeakably awful. There are a number of bonus tracks, that add nothing to the overall effect. 'Expectations' at first appears to be a rockier tracker that largely eschews Wilson’s influence and seems all the better for it. Then comes a middle eight and it gets all Beach Boys-esque again. This does not mean it’s not perfectly fine, but that is what it sounds like and that if it’s groundbreaking material you want, then I suggest you move quickly along. If you have every Brian Wilson album, the re-released Dennis Wilson album and want to hear a very good re-treading of those classic 60's sounds, then this could be for you.

Track Listing:-

1 Silent Girlfriend
2 You’re My Number One
3 You Said It
4 Hard to Be Happy
5 Tuesday Music
6 Lonesome Cowboy
7 When You Smile
8 And Then
9 Expectations
10 Days of Simplicity
11 Over
12 Real (Demo)
13 Attention Not Required (Acoustic Mix)
14 Eva
15 Silent Girlfriend (Acoustic Mix)
16 Hard to Be Happy (Live)
17 Lonesome Cowboy (Alternate Take)
18 Days of Simplicity (Basic Tracks)

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