320 kbps | 107 MB |
Poets Corner the lead-track on the new release from Case Hardin is unusual for an album opener, clocking in at over eight minutes it’s a slow builder and a brave move, but the song craft of the bands frontman Pete Gow is such that the anthemic track (named for a local landmark in Acton West London) builds into a bold stylistic statement of intent for the album Colours Simple, a recording which sees the band move consciously to a fuller and more guitar-centric sound – at the centre of which is guitar slinger Jim Maving, backed by the rhythm section of Tim Emery (bass & mandolin) and Andy Bastow (drums).
There’s more to Colours Simple than the epic opener though up next is Three Cities that sees Gow turn a late night bar stool conversation with a prostitute about the merits of Phil Spector as a record producer
into one of the albums highlights, embellished with the keyboard skills of longtime collaborator Mike Wesson it’s a slow burner. Rock ‘n’ roll returns for tracks three and four with the rollicking Roll Damnation Roll and the barroom blast of (Jesus Christ Tomorrow Morning) Do I Still Feel This Way which cede to one of albums quieter and reflective tracks Fiction Writer.
Recorded in North London at Chris Clarke’s Reservoir Studios the next track see the band getting a groove on and breaking out the brass courtesy of the Reservoir Dogs brass section – Robin & Joe Bennett (Dreaming Spires), Geoff Widdowson (Danny And The Champions Of The World).