Altsounds - Mama's Gun - You Are The Music [Single]

Mama's Gun certainly seem to have gone for the commercial jugular with this insipid but admittedly catchy slice of retro funk-pop. The influence of Stevie Wonder was obvious from the moment the overly long string intro faded into a straight R'n'B groove, complete with wah-wah guitar and walking bass-lines which carries through the rest of the song.

Nay-sayers may note a similarity to funk-muppet Jamaroquai (and they wouldn't be too far off) but at least there's a real chorus here which (though trite in sentiment) does it's job adequately. The addition of sampled, hip-hop flavoured beats in the second verse are obviously an attempt at genre cross-pollination yet it still seems forced. In fact almost everything about this song feels contrived. That's not to say it's a badly written song, it's certainly professional sounding and well structured, but there is a distinct lack of hooks. In some ways Mama's Gun suffer from the same problem that faced fellow Motown acolyte Daniel Merriweather, there just isn't anything memorable to take away from the song.

Singer Andy Platts has an agreeable lilt to his voice, the band is obviously tight (one suspects made up of session musicians) and the production is lively and inventive in parts, but overall 'You Are The Music' shoots for the stars without ever really reaching that moment of joyful transcendence that typifies the very best soul music.