I haven’t really got into MP3 music… I have moved on from LPs… although I have not yet properly moved back to them, I am stuck with CDs… and have quite a lot of them as you might imagine.
Over the last couple of days i have been listening to Catchall, by the band SWAG… which may not be well-known, and only produced this one CD (as far as I know) but it is brilliant! The music is reminiscent of early Beatles, a tribute maybe, but at the same time it is fresh and original, and very memorable; the lyrics of the songs tell stories, and really stick in your head – in a good way, not an irritating way.
There are quite a few ‘guest’ performers on the CD, but SWAG is made up of Ken Coomer, Jerry Dale McFadden, Tom Petersson, Doug Powell and Robert Reynolds, who all sing and play, and have written the songs, lyrics and music. The genre is described as pop/rock/country and the style, well, how about alternative country-rock, alternative/indie rock, Americana, roots rock… does that give you an idea?
There are twelve tracks on the CD, and it’s hard to say which is my favourite.. there are some real dance-along numbers which had me grooving in the car as we drove home from Wellington yesterday such as ‘Louise’, and there are some songs which tell a complete story such as ‘Lone’, and some sweet almost heartbreaking songs such as ‘Different Girl’ with Scotty Huff on guest vocals, sounding a little like Paul McCartney, and ‘She’s Deceiving’, by my favourite Robert Reynolds. Robert is an original Maverick, but he has an amazing voice which he demonstrates, particularly on this song. Thinking about the Beatles, and listening to Catchall for the first time for a while, Robert’s voice reminded me of John Lennon, and I don’t mean he was trying to emulate him, I mean it as a compliment that he sounded similar.
Lois Elsden 