SUPER
AUTOMATIC - Myracle Brah (Laughing
Outlaw/Rainbow Quartz)The best thing about a sampler like this, where you get a few songs from three separate albums, is you get the chance to really get a taste for an artist in a single package. The bad part? Well in this
case
it’s that the styles change so much from track to track it’s hard
to figure out what’s going on.The first two lo-fi, Beatles-inspired offerings, "Isn’t It A Crime" and "Albert S. Hand", conjure up images of guitarist/singer/songwriter Andy Bopp (yes, Bopp) as a mop-topped McCartney fan. The fact he was one of the featured acts at this year’s Abbey Road Festival just reinforces things… then we get to track three and beyond and it’s all out the window.
Here the flavour is still soft and guitar-driven pop but think more along the lines of Paul Westerberg or late Soul Asylum.
Production values in this section are decidedly better with the Hammond organ doing a great impersonation of strings over the top of some beautifully mellow songs such as "When She Cries" and "Madaliene".
Then just in case you were getting used to a style, there’s another pair of tracks tacked on to the end where overdriven guitar is mixed in with some understated lead and Bopp’s enormous vocal range for another take on things… ah well, Bopp might be a tad schizophrenic, but if it’s mellow rock/pop you’re after, something soft enough to suit most tastes and still catchy enough to be remembered days later, it’s well worth a try.
Oh, and keep an ear out for the moment about 25 seconds into track two, "Albert S. Hand" which sounds suspiciously like Andy forgot to turn his mobile phone off before the recording started. Of course it’s intentional… right? - Scott Ellis
