Album Review: Black Soul Strangers, Animate

Release date: 05/07/2010

Skiddle rating: 3.5 out of 5

Reviewed by: Luke McGee

Right, let's get something out of the way before I start;

Irish singers are almost always 1) Charismatic 2) Good looking and 3) In possession of a voice that will make you weak at the knees. Happily, Black Soul Stranger's front man Barry Gorey is not an exception to this rule. The Earth rotates around the sun, chavs eat Pot Noodle whilst they watch Britain's Got Talent and the Irish accent is one of the few things left in this horrible world that can still make your heart melt. With that issue addressed - on with the review.

The album opens strongly enough with the uplifting, up-tempo fiasco 'Panic Sets Direction'. This song is a good indication of what is to come on the rest of the album; powerful nuggets of music with superbly crafted vocals and intricate musicianship that provides enough ear candy to keep you interested for most of the record.

It would be fair to accuse this band of sounding a little generic, but that doesn't stop the music being enjoyable and full of catchy little hooks that feel instantly memorable.

There are a couple of songs on here that feel a little too like obvious singles and have been purposely written for radio play or for a live venue. This doesn't mean that they are bad songs, although it does make the album feel like a showcase rather than a cohesive work.

Earlier I said that the opening song is a good indication of the rest of the album, and I suppose this is the source of my main complaint with the album. Too many of the songs sound exactly the same and towards the end of the album this becomes a bit of a drag. Take the two penultimate tracks - the first of which 'Witchita' is a fantastic indie/rock number with a great melody and sing-along chorus that gets completely ruined by the following song 'You don't need it' sounding almost exactly like it but being about a tenth of the quality.

In the rare moments of obvious and genuine diversity when they turn the volume and energy levels down and compliment Barry's voice, the album becomes considerably more interesting. The two best examples of this are the beautifully melodic 'Monster' and 'The Haunting', which can be heard on Spotify or on the band's MySpace.

Final tracks are always tough and Black Soul Strangers so nearly got it absolutely spot on. 'Harp' is in the most part an excellently somber, refreshingly sparse and touching sign off that would have left me feeling entirely fulfilled until around three minutes in when the entire band inexplicably jump in feet first with crashing cymbals and punching distorted chords before treating us to the most ill advised 'disco beat' ever to be recorded.

The band have already received a decent amount of attention and radio play and seem to have the necessary qualities to be successful. In preparation for this review I went to see them live and (at risk of exposing my idiocy) many of my criticisms for the album were negated. The catchy, energetic nature of the songs works a lot better live and the band dump a big dollop of Irish charm on top of that making them one of the more fun bands I've seen recently.

Animate is a genuinely successful halfway point between Indie and Rock. The album had been produced by Tom McFall, a man who has previously worked with Bloc Party and Weezer. These two artists are probably a good mark of the 'in between' that Black Soul Strangers achieve, the indie idiosyncrasies of Bloc Party with the melodic rock power of Weezer.

Not a life-changing album, but certainly worth a listen. Great music to listen to on your own whilst on the move.

Positives - Although a lot of the songs are a little formulaic and samey, they are mostly accomplished, catchy and tremendous fun. The vocals are full of character and charm.

Negatives - After a while the songs become extremely predictable - which can be extremely annoying.