French rock on Deep Elm. The press release waxes lyrical about the smooth progression of the album and uses the first instance I have ever seen of the phrase ‘a gauntlet of self-examination’ (sounds like a thinly veiled reference to knocking one out to me). I have then been presented with an album preview rather than the whole thing. Which seems like a bit of anti-climax. So apologies to any massive DTE fans who think I have misjudged this new Deep Elm release (let’s be honest, one of the most consistent labels around). I haven’t got that much to go on, you know?
What I can hear on this preview, I like. Its angular, it’s melodic, it’s reminiscent of a mixture of Embrace (not the northern monkeys either before you say anything), Small Brown Bike and just a hint of stadium rock circa Pearl Jam into the blender for good measure. What they seem to do better than most is put in a memorable hook with their riffage. But then, when you’re hearing snippets of tunes, it’s not a surprize.
This sounds pretty damn interesting – do yourself a favour and download the free Deep Elm comp from their website and have a listen to these boys.
Mike