![Even - [self-titled]](http://www.rock-metal-music-reviews.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/even-self-titled.jpg)
Australia has a habit of raising rather different bands to prominence than the other major music markets, and power-pop trio Even are no exception.
That’s not to say Even are doing anything especially original or unique from a musical perspective. Quite the opposite, in fact; Even shamelessly reappropriate the accessible rock forms from the sixties onwards, and make a damned fine job of it. Much of the music on this self-titled album falls into the bracket of “rhythm and blues” in the sense that The Who used the term: root note basslines over back-beat drums; power chords and bluesy pentatonic lead lines from the guitar; verse-chorus-verse structures and simple folky lyrics with a layer or two of harmony.
A form easily described, but not so easily mastered. The catch is that to make a familiar format work, you’re going to have to write some damn catchy songs. Even hit the target pretty frequently; even the tunes that aren’t particularly lyrically inspired have instantly memorable sing-along chorus hooks, sounding like songs you’re sure you’ve heard before, maybe on the radio as your parents drove you somewhere, back before you’d really discovered music for yourself.
My personal preference leans more toward Even’s rockier blues pieces, like “I Walk On”, “Which Way To Run” and the nodding stomp of album closer “The Pinnacle”, all of which will stir your foot to tapping and make you want to whistle your own licks and solos into the spaces. But Even provide enough diversity to keep things interesting, reaching into the realms of fingerpickin’ Americana on “Superstition Blues” and country pastiche on “The Fool Who Made You Sad”.
What is always apparent is that Even are entertainers; their roots in live performance are plain to hear, as is their uncomplicated love for the music they make. It’s not big, clever or fashionable, but that doesn’t matter.
Essentially, Even are proper pop – this sort of thing is what the word meant before it became synonymous with gangs of talent-free identikit choreographed clothes-hangers. Even is the sort of album that I doubt I’d reach for very often, but would always be pleasantly surprised to find popping up in the playlist. As I sit typing this review, the sun is beating down outside, and Even’s tunes make me want to shut off the computer, get in a car and drive for the horizon with the windows wound right down and the stereo up loud.
So there’s your recommendation – Even play great bluesy summer-time guitar pop, without the cheese. The sixties, filtered through the nineties, played now.
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Posted in Music reviews |
Tags: blues, country, Even, power-pop, rhythm and blues, rock
