 Lemanis
| Push Me Pull You
www.myspace.com/lemanisband
I
know I'm not supposed to say this, but music reviewing is such
a farce. The whole gig is personal. The whim or taste of a writer
is inevitably (often) boisterously splashed across a page. The
mere musicians in mortal terror awaiting a thumbs up or down from
a hunch-backed word wielder holed up in some shady closet called,
"office."
The
good news is often through that undeniably biased review
the writer has the ability to tune-in otherwise tuned-out would-be
patrons. And, as with Lemanis, the music is respective of so many
musical influences the listener simply must find something in
there that makes you giddy with glee.
And
clearly this is the case here. Lemanis is a musically morphing
group whose sounds manage to wed melodic, traditional and classic
rock without being either redundant or passé. For lack
of a more articulate thesaurus researched adjective Lemanis' music
is catchy.
Their latest offering, "Push Me Pull You," completely
compels you to have faith that original music (that respects its
elders) is alive and kicking!
The
first track, "Museum" instantly reminded me of early
innocent Who-ligans…you can almost see the Lemanis lads
in frilly collared shirts and pencil-legged pinstripe tweeds on
a “Ready, Steady, Go!” set. Their music accented with
corny circa '64 camera pushes and frame melting effects. But then
you remember it's 2009...
Lemanis next weaves you into a wildly different kind of yarn called,
"Colosseum." Here you're slapped with delightful dollops
of Celtic traditional pickings mixed with old-school Zeppelin
rock. The vocals are as if you’ve wandered into a gypsy
camp on a solstice festival eve: just wonderful.
Who
are these blokes? Phil Baker, Didjeridu, Nick Lemanis, Adam Sinclair
and John Sidbotham (<- a rather suspicious name…). The
instruments worked between them are pretty complete; any self-respecting
music teacher would raise an eyebrow in delight and envy. And
their
songs are surprisingly unique for all the name-dropping that I’ve
managed in the first few paragraphs.
The
vocals on their ditty, “She Was Always a Dreamer,”
are worth the purchase price; and who knew moor-inspired British
jig mixed with mariachi? Joe Strummer did…but you get my
point.
They
switch musical abilities again to splash in a bit of
surf-retro in, “Go Blonde.” The vocals (that I almost
hesitate to send you here as you may think me mad) are a brushed-up
version of a certain bubble-headed beach-boy band.
Finally
when you think you’ve had enough of trying to pin point
their influences, track seven, “A Witch’s Dog,”
veers off to yet another unexpected corner of the globe. As accordion
and trombone mingle to land you in some creepy border town whose
inhabitants have all gathered for a double-booked festival celebrating
an illegal polital election and a beloved ex-citizen's funeral;
with the same band on hand to play background.
And track eleven, "Woodshop," is a semi-gothic / ethereal
stroll complete with a melancholy choir and mourning piano rift.
Good job boys. There are twelve songs in all and that does not
seem nearly enough.
That
point is this: Lemanis are a group of remarkably versatile talents
who given a listen could be the next global trend in multi-generational
audience appreciation. I suggest you grab this CD and get in the
know - now - before they are. You’ll get a bonus in the
liner notes: an explanation of album’s seemingly-all-too-clever
title.
Um,
are you still buggering about? I've got no more to say 'cept get
over to www.myspace.com/lemanisband
now!
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