The Pavilion last night saw the conclusion of the Sound It Out Competition that had been running about Cork for the better part of the two months. The lucky groups that were going to slug it out on the night were Sian Brown, Meadhbh Boyd & The Mutual Appreciation Society, and Hush Warcry. The groups had triumphed over the thirty-three other hopefuls and were in with a chance at taking the title. It promised to be one entertaining night.
First up was folk act, Sian Brown. Backed by a five-piece band comprised of an electric guitarist, bassist, drummer, pianist and cellist, Sian launched into semi-soulful renditions of her extensive body of work. The band embellished Sian’s songs perfectly, the beautiful arrangements and tight play style made her stand above the other bands in terms of musicianship. She knew what her genre demanded and she delivered it. A personal favourite track of mine would be the guttural, ‘Rainbow’, a track whose heart is grounded in the mid-90s and gives off an almost Radiohead-esque vibe. I must say however, you can only push the folk-rock genre so far and Ms. Brown wasn’t delivering anything mind-blowing at the show. Her set wasn’t going to set the world alight, but indeed it was very pleasant, and probably the most complete of all the performances on the night.
Next up was the winners of the Roundy heats, Meadhbh Boyd & The Mutual Appreciation Society. The band combine the folk/jazz elements of Meadhbh’s own style, with the heavy, off-time rhythms and bass brought in by the other members. The drumming was excellent (if a bit light at times), the bass playing was excellent, the keys were excellent and the guitar embellishments added by Robert Wedgbury were excellent. Given the individual parts, you would expect that the whole would be excellent also, and it was pretty close. I found the lyrics grating at times, in particular the “you are a sexy sexy man about town” lines, and in general the lyrics were quite lacking. Also, I found that the songs went on a bit and often bordered on the over-indulgent. That said, I found Meadhbh Boyd & The Mutual Appreciation Society to be, by far, the most interesting act of the night.
Finishing up the evening were indie-kids Hush Warcry, and once they had taken the stage, it was clear to see which band had brought the crowd. Amidst thunderous applause and whooping, Hush Warcry, clad in the indie uniform of white t-shirts, skinny jeans, and guitars up to their necks, opened their set. The band showed a good deal of expertise in their genre, with their melodic guitars, driving bass, and innovative drum beats, adding some nice synth lines to give some fullness to their material. Their two lead signers worked both individually and in tandem throughout the show and they possibly possessed the best vocal range of all the acts.
I think the singers could have harmonised a bit more often and this could have made their set more interesting as I found myself drifting off after their fourth or fifth song. Another criticism I would have is that the band inexplicably all swapped instruments for a song mid-set. The bassist played the drums, the drummer played the keys, and one of the singers played the bass. I don’t think it’s too much to ask for the band to have kept their places for the song, as once they had switched over, the quality of the music took a nosedive. But in general in quality of the music was high, and they were by far the most melodic and evocative band of the three finalists.
For all that the night promised, I couldn’t muster up a lot of interest in the bands, as much as I tried. I found something fundamentally lacking in each of the acts, aspects that I couldn’t get over, but maybe I have high standards. My money would have been on Meadhbh Boyd & The Mutual Appreciation Society to take the title and as luck would have it, they came away with the win. The band were the most interesting and innovative of the three and, lyrical content aside, they were the obvious choice to win. We here at the D look forward to hearing more from them in the future and would like congratulate them on their win.
Published on Drop-D.ie, 16th April, 2011
First up was folk act, Sian Brown. Backed by a five-piece band comprised of an electric guitarist, bassist, drummer, pianist and cellist, Sian launched into semi-soulful renditions of her extensive body of work. The band embellished Sian’s songs perfectly, the beautiful arrangements and tight play style made her stand above the other bands in terms of musicianship. She knew what her genre demanded and she delivered it. A personal favourite track of mine would be the guttural, ‘Rainbow’, a track whose heart is grounded in the mid-90s and gives off an almost Radiohead-esque vibe. I must say however, you can only push the folk-rock genre so far and Ms. Brown wasn’t delivering anything mind-blowing at the show. Her set wasn’t going to set the world alight, but indeed it was very pleasant, and probably the most complete of all the performances on the night.
Next up was the winners of the Roundy heats, Meadhbh Boyd & The Mutual Appreciation Society. The band combine the folk/jazz elements of Meadhbh’s own style, with the heavy, off-time rhythms and bass brought in by the other members. The drumming was excellent (if a bit light at times), the bass playing was excellent, the keys were excellent and the guitar embellishments added by Robert Wedgbury were excellent. Given the individual parts, you would expect that the whole would be excellent also, and it was pretty close. I found the lyrics grating at times, in particular the “you are a sexy sexy man about town” lines, and in general the lyrics were quite lacking. Also, I found that the songs went on a bit and often bordered on the over-indulgent. That said, I found Meadhbh Boyd & The Mutual Appreciation Society to be, by far, the most interesting act of the night.
Finishing up the evening were indie-kids Hush Warcry, and once they had taken the stage, it was clear to see which band had brought the crowd. Amidst thunderous applause and whooping, Hush Warcry, clad in the indie uniform of white t-shirts, skinny jeans, and guitars up to their necks, opened their set. The band showed a good deal of expertise in their genre, with their melodic guitars, driving bass, and innovative drum beats, adding some nice synth lines to give some fullness to their material. Their two lead signers worked both individually and in tandem throughout the show and they possibly possessed the best vocal range of all the acts.
I think the singers could have harmonised a bit more often and this could have made their set more interesting as I found myself drifting off after their fourth or fifth song. Another criticism I would have is that the band inexplicably all swapped instruments for a song mid-set. The bassist played the drums, the drummer played the keys, and one of the singers played the bass. I don’t think it’s too much to ask for the band to have kept their places for the song, as once they had switched over, the quality of the music took a nosedive. But in general in quality of the music was high, and they were by far the most melodic and evocative band of the three finalists.
For all that the night promised, I couldn’t muster up a lot of interest in the bands, as much as I tried. I found something fundamentally lacking in each of the acts, aspects that I couldn’t get over, but maybe I have high standards. My money would have been on Meadhbh Boyd & The Mutual Appreciation Society to take the title and as luck would have it, they came away with the win. The band were the most interesting and innovative of the three and, lyrical content aside, they were the obvious choice to win. We here at the D look forward to hearing more from them in the future and would like congratulate them on their win.
Published on Drop-D.ie, 16th April, 2011
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