The John Steel Singers - The Beagle and the Dove / In Colours [Mini Album / EP]

Levity

July 30, 2009, 08:21 AM

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'John Steel Singers make me want to cut off my ears and kill myself just to be sure I never hear them again' said a so called 'Brisbane music lover' with the name Penny Lame. The quote, found on the band's Myspace, seems to be a case of self-mockery rather than reality though and if so, it would be quite typical for the sextet from Brisbane, Australia, as fun, parties and happiness is what makes their world go round.

Musically their two albums, one mini, one EP and both released last year, show what you get when a former ELO cover band is provided with uppers and starts writing original songs while picking up the Beach Boys on their way to the studio. Especially the eight track mini LP ‘The Beagle and the Dove’ contains quite good material, like for example ‘The Stage Intervention of Poor Rich by his Righteous Peers’. Never mind the ‘ambitious’ title, this song, as well as runner-ups ’Richard’ and ’Strawberry Wine,’ sounds like what happened if Brian Wilson, on the same day that Jeff Lynne switched places with George Martin, had taken over John Lennon’s place in the Beatles when he went on holiday in 1969. ’Strawberry Wine’ isn’t so much like ELO, it is ELO; the catchy melody, harmonious vocals and the production sound that much alike.

The sad thing about this mini album though is, as soon as number four, ’Evolution’ starts you get the feeling you’ve heard it all before. And you have. It’s again the catchiness of stage musicals, the colours of Cirque du Soleil and the Beach Boys doing background vocals, but something is missing: good songs. Music like this needs to have something extra to stay in your mind and after three songs, the effect of their uppers obviously vanished, and what was left sounded more like a sad clown doing his performance in the circus. The colours and jokes are there, but the spirit is gone.

It’s the same problem with EP ‘In Colours’; everything is there except for the good songs. The real fun and focus seems to have disappeared and that’s what makes their second release far less of a treat than the first one.

The John Steel Singers are all in all not bad - cutting your ears off would not be necessary but they need to come up with better songs and maybe develop a more personal style to make their final step to ELO-like stardom.

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