In a bygone age bands and artists
would hone their skills as musicians in the bars and clubs.
It was in these dives that they
paid their dues and built up a reputation from scratch.
If they were any good then they
may have been lucky and a label would invest some cash in them, and with the
studio time they were provided with they would lay down the material that had
been sorely road tested, and in this way a debut would be rolled out filled
with music that was often all killer and bereft of any filler.
Unfortunately in this modern age the
benefits of computer programmes can allow pretty much anyone to record a full
album, and while some individuals excel in doing so, there are those who should
try hard not to run before the walk and foist their half formed musical endeavours
on the public.
Thankfully with the Titan
Sessions Christie Connor-Vernal has provided us with material that is all about
the former, and nothing to do with the latter. (Although it’s not funded by a
label)
When the term punching above
their weight gets bandied about it could well be in a conversation about these
sessions, as Christie and the band have stepped up and delivered far more than
what was promised.
There’s established artists who
are falling far shot of the quality bar that has been set here.
If the remit before they went into
the studio was to lay down some tracks that could be described as a little bit
country, and a whole lotta rock and roll, then the mission is now completed and
it’s time to move on and take these songs into venues and let them run free.
With the opening track “Hound Dog’s
Moon” laying down the gauntlet the band are flexing their muscles and letting
anyone listening know that this is no tentative introduction to what Christie
can do, and it certainly sound like her band mates are saying “No one leaves
Christie in the corner”.
Great vocals, and the
musicianship on display is a tad breathtaking, and then just when you think you
know what will be coming next “Black and Grey” comes in from leftfield and challenges
the legendary rock goddesses, such as the Wilson sisters, in the balladry
stakes.
Roll the clock back to when rock
acts were the staple for MTV and this is a song that would have been on heavy
rotation.
With “Bad Girl Boogie” you can
hear hints of a song that deserves some Muscle Shoals treatment.
Not that this is to say it is
lacking in anything, but more so that it lends itself to a certain production
that would take it from being a great song to one that would have the term “classic”
attached to it.
“As good as it gets” is dustbowl romanticism
dropped off on Sunset Strip and told that it aint getting back into the car
until it’s howled its heart on its sleeve message to the world, while “Oceans
Away” displays a maturity of song-writing that once again someone with a clutch
of platinum albums on their wall would at least part exchange their soul for.
Close your eyes and you can
imagine a stadium crowd losing themselves in it.
Then with a final flourish “Eye
for an Eye” is revealed and sees the band pretty much perfectly blending the
hard with the smooth as they provide a foundation for Christie to build from as
she proclaims that an “eye for an eye will leave this whole damn world blind”.
All in all this is an impressive
take on a blend of a few genres, and it’s doubtful that anyone investing it
will be feeling short changed.
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