January - I Heard Myself In Yo

  by Malcolm Carter

published: 17 / 12 / 2001

Label: Poptones
Format: CD

intro

There have been some excellent releases from the Poptones label over the last six months or so. Not content with issuing four outstanding CDs of sixties sunshine harmonic pop, all connected to the leg

There have been some excellent releases from the Poptones label over the last six months or so. Not content with issuing four outstanding CDs of sixties sunshine harmonic pop, all connected to the legendary Curt Boettcher, Poptones then followed them up with albums by Oranger, The Cosmic Rough Riders and Captain Soul which brought that sound bang up to date. January, a London based four piece, have a tough job on their hands coming along after so many good releases by the label. Expectations are understandably high and on first listen the songs are not as immediate as those on the Captain Soul or Cosmic Rough Riders albums. But that is not to say that they are not as good in the long run; it just takes a few plays before the gentle melodies work their way through. All the songs here were written by guitarist and vocalist Simon McLean between 1993 and 2000 who obviously has a talent for writing sad songs set to even sadder melodies. Comparisons have been made elsewhere to Nick Drake and are pretty redundant really. Ones made to Mazzy Star are a little more accurate. Maybe it was not the smartest move to start the album with ‘All Time’, which although it picks up momentum in places, plods along for far too long and is too cluttered to make any real impression until about the fourth listen. It’s a risk to open a debut album with such a listless song in the hope that potential listeners are still going to be around for that fourth play. The second track, ‘Through Your Skies’, would have been a much better opening track. Nagging guitar lines and McLean’s vocalsare more audible over the less-muddled production. At least it makes you sit up and take notice that there could be something special going on here. In fact, the songs just keep getting better and by track four, the title track, you realise that bad sequencing of the tracks could have caused you to brush aside a real grower of a record. Even a cursory listen to ‘Invisible Lines’ dispels any doubts of this not matching the standard so far set by Poptones. It’s just a shame that the track is stuck halfway through the album. McLean’s vocals are at last less hushed and riding on the gentlest of melodies. Many of the songs have a dream-like quality to them, which makes them sound like a mellower Noel Gallagher fronting Spiritualized at times. The excellent ‘Projections’ is the standout track, “Drove for miles to say goodbye”, sings an emotional McLean backed by acoustic guitar and some outstanding and beautiful slide guitar by Sarah Peacock. The short, two minute, ‘Fused’ ends the album on a strange note; an echoey, almost vocal-less stop/start tune which should have been a candidate for the first track. It’s intriguing enough to make you want to give the rest of the album a listen. So, thank God for the C.D. player then. Program track 10 to start the album and put ‘All Time’ on at the end, if at all. Then play it a few times and stick with it, it’s well worth it in the end.

Track Listing:-