The Burn - 'Sally O' Mattress' (Hut)
3/5
By: Matt Tomiak
For some, it's always gonna be just about the music, maaan...
The 'Burn's Weller/Gallagher approved slide-guitar n' harmonica fest of a first album will no doubt be roundly dismissed by snooty critics the length and breadth of the nation as dull, colourless 'Dadrock'. By others, it will be lauded as a triumph of the authentic; at last, something 'real' in a world dominated by manufactured TV pop clones.
Sure, there is Ocean Colour Scene-style portentousness to some of 'Sally O' Mattress', but their Blackburn-via-the-Bayou stylings shouldn't be dismissed outright. The swampy blues-rock on show here - seemingly more suited to Deep South-dwelling, dungaree-wearing alligator wrestlers than bearded Lancashire lads with names like Graham and Lee - might not be fashionable. Still, joint vocalists Daniel Davidson and Michael Spencer sing with the traditional northern gusto of Liam or Dicky Ashcroft, and it's hard to sneer at tunes as well-crafted and multi-faceted as 'Facing The Music' and new single 'Drunken Fool.'
Heartily recommended for anyone who was crushingly disappointed by the fact that The Seahorses never got around to releasing a second album.
Artists in this article: The Burn
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