It seems it is the burden of every acoustic carrying youth to have their strumming hand branded with a hot-iron inscribed with the two most inevitable words in the English musical lexicon: Nick Drake. Of course, the name has long since carried any direct resonance or weight of its own, to the extent of now representing anything ‘not plugged in’. The name has become a byword for ‘folky, an epithet for introversion and a convenient sandwich ‘wrap’ for anything remotely tragic. In fact those most likely to adopt the comparison may never have even heard a Nick Drake record, which just shows you the strength of its currency. So let’s set one thing straight about this quirky and poignant Brighton five-piece: they sound absolutely nothing like Nick Drake – contrary to what it says on the tin.
After opening shows for the likes of Kate Nash, the Hold Steady and Newton Faulkner, the band follow up their first EP, ‘Night Vision Binoculars’ with their luscious and cinematic debut album, ‘Wicked Man’s Rest’. Featuring songwriter’s Mike Rosenberg’s slightly lisping and child-like vocal timbre, the tracks play out against a back-drop of subdued and tinkling piano keys, trippy percussive beats, chattering arpeggios that collapse in a heap of unapologetic loveliness. Sure it courts the cutesy, wounded melancholy of storyteller types like James Blunt and David Gray but it also boasts the bristling idiosyncrasies of more peculiar folk intelligences like Ben Christophers, James Yorkston and Matthew Jay.
Tales of stalking and regret with a puckish and seafaring Celtic tip.
PASSENGER – ‘WICKED MAN’S REST’ RELEASED (US) 05.08.08