Hailing from the North East of England, Stoneleaf are a threepiece set to unleash their second album, ‘mygonewhere’ unto the world. ‘Each Last Act’ is lifted from said album, and acts as a short taste of what’s to come. It’s good to hear bands these days that aren’t following the latest trends and fashions. Stoneleaf are in fact so out of fashion, that this single would probably have made a considerable impact on the charts circa 1991. Sounding like a cross between Placebo, Smashing Pumpkins and Pearl Jam, ‘Each Last Act’ is dripping in the stuff that good grunge is made of.
With a typical soft/loud/soft structure, there’s a ghostly feel to their use of instruments as they combine grimey distrotion with some rather sweet cleaner guitar picking. Top that off with Rick Taylor’s whispering vocals, and you’ve got something that you could imagine being played at a dirty underground San Diego Rock Club. B-side ‘Killed By Kindness’ follows much the same pattern, yet the Smashing Pumpkins influence is a lot more prominent. Unfortunately, neither song has that quality that will ensure repeated listens. Maybe it’s because we’ve come to expect so much more from music these days, and the styles and genres of yesteryear can end up sounding simplistic and dated. Or maybe it’s just that these songs are ‘good’ and not ‘great’. Either way, an album’s worth of tracks like these will surely end up sounding repetitive and bland. It’s a nice effort, but it’s not going to set the world ablaze with Stoneleafmania.
Andrew