By: Alan Ewart
The Travelling Band | website | facebook |
Manchester five-piece The Travelling Band first came to my attention at 2011’s Cropredy Festival where they and Irish Folk-Rockers the Horslips were my highlights of the festival. They put on a great live show as they demonstrated at Cropredy again this August. Their 2011 release Screaming is Something has been a regular on my playlist since that 2011 gig so I was looking forward to checking out the new release The Big Defreeze.
It would be easy just to lump The Travelling Band in with the other Alt-Folk bands that are around at the moment but they are somehow much more complex than that. There is a feel of ‘Madchester’ Britpop in the vocal and guitar work, the vocal has a melancholy feel that contrasts nicely with upbeat guitar. The vocal harmonies and banjo add more than a touch of Americana and yet in songs like ‘Borrowed and Blue’ there is a distinct Prog-Rock feel before the song changes pace of the remainder of the album to a more traditional and hard edged folk style.
Opening track ‘Passing Ships’ is something of a microcosm for the album. The bright energy of the guitar and drums contrasts with the darkness of some of the lyrics but it sort of picks you up and sweeps you along. ‘Garbo’ is a ‘big’ song full of hooks and harmonies that instantly have you tapping your feet and singing along. I found myself a little annoyed and distracted with Jo Dudderidge at times in this track when he adds ah-ah ahah to the end of words to make the vocal fit the melody It felt lazy to me. I would also have to say that the vocal harmonies at times felt a little ‘Boy Band’, not something I am a fan of.
Overall there is a lot to like about this album. It is fun, its catchy and it is easy to listen to. Whilst I liked the opening track a lot the album becomes more appealing to me for the last five tracks. They have a ‘harder’ and darker edge whilst the opening tracks have more of a ‘pop’ feel. The album is fairly strong lyrically but at times feels a little over-produced. It all feels very familiar, comfortable and a bit too easy. For me it feels a bit lacking in grit, a bit ‘rural fields on a sunny day’ rather than ‘wet, rainy urban Manchester’, it feels too accessible. I like my music to be challenging and thought provoking, I like to invest in extracting the hidden depths in an album, I didn’t feel like I had to do that here.
I have little doubt that The Big Defreeze will win The Travelling Band plenty of new fans, it is certainly more ‘mainstream’ than previous offerings. I suspect that the songs will translate really well into the live arena, and for this listener at least that is where the band remain at their strongest.
