One British band in particular that has consistently leaned towards Americana and all of it's sub-genres resulted in huge popularity. Surely you have heard of The Rolling Stones?. West Midlands band Gasfoodlodging may not have Mick Jagger at the forefront, but the frontman, guitarist and songwriter of the band, Dave Griffiths certainly knows how to handle and deliver a Keith Richards guitar hook or two and and can definitely put pen to paper and deliver a quality original song!
Furthermore, Griffiths must surely have the satisfaction that it's his own 12 original songs that form this forthcoming LP "Blue Collar Rain". What's evident when listening to this LP is the continual high quality songwriting that runs solidly throughout from start to finish, we have corporate domination anger with the infectious punk pop of "Corporate Disease" through to tender tales of loss and loneliness with the beautiful melody of "Wherever". Griffiths also shares with us his humorous side with tracks such as "Another day gone" and "All for your country". The latter track suggesting that we are all doing our bit for our individual countries even though some of the mentioned activities are not the most productive or legal.
Bands such as the Artic Monkeys who have themselves delivered their fair share of sarcasm would more than likely raise a wry smile listening to this track. The Rhythm section give a steady backbone to the songs as Griffiths leads them through constant rhythmic guitar hooks and very impressive bursts of his distinctive lead playing. This brings me nicely to another of my favorite tracks off the LP, "Play it from the Heart" A song which name checks the former iconic US comedian, Bill Hicks. A song filled with angst towards the hideous mediocrity of purposely built pop bands for young people consumption. Griffiths sings "I will turn my speakers loud if what you say sticks out from the crowd" "But I will turn my speakers down if I hear your familiar sound", as he makes reference to commercial music that gets produced without an ounce of soul within it's foundation. "Blue Collar Rain" is an impressive initial stamp on the musical landscape as Griffiths is clearly capable of writing clever lyrical content. The wonderful seductive rock & roll of "Daniella Delray" comes to mind as does the tragic road trip theme of another impressive track, "Under The Texas Sun".
It's a debut LP that certainly manages to entertain. In a drab and sunken UK guitar music scene, it's nice to see good songwriting is still going on out there. We just have to find it.
A.Gregory. © 2017
andrew.force10media@gmail.com / www.outpostmedia.co.uk
Furthermore, Griffiths must surely have the satisfaction that it's his own 12 original songs that form this forthcoming LP "Blue Collar Rain". What's evident when listening to this LP is the continual high quality songwriting that runs solidly throughout from start to finish, we have corporate domination anger with the infectious punk pop of "Corporate Disease" through to tender tales of loss and loneliness with the beautiful melody of "Wherever". Griffiths also shares with us his humorous side with tracks such as "Another day gone" and "All for your country". The latter track suggesting that we are all doing our bit for our individual countries even though some of the mentioned activities are not the most productive or legal.
Bands such as the Artic Monkeys who have themselves delivered their fair share of sarcasm would more than likely raise a wry smile listening to this track. The Rhythm section give a steady backbone to the songs as Griffiths leads them through constant rhythmic guitar hooks and very impressive bursts of his distinctive lead playing. This brings me nicely to another of my favorite tracks off the LP, "Play it from the Heart" A song which name checks the former iconic US comedian, Bill Hicks. A song filled with angst towards the hideous mediocrity of purposely built pop bands for young people consumption. Griffiths sings "I will turn my speakers loud if what you say sticks out from the crowd" "But I will turn my speakers down if I hear your familiar sound", as he makes reference to commercial music that gets produced without an ounce of soul within it's foundation. "Blue Collar Rain" is an impressive initial stamp on the musical landscape as Griffiths is clearly capable of writing clever lyrical content. The wonderful seductive rock & roll of "Daniella Delray" comes to mind as does the tragic road trip theme of another impressive track, "Under The Texas Sun".
It's a debut LP that certainly manages to entertain. In a drab and sunken UK guitar music scene, it's nice to see good songwriting is still going on out there. We just have to find it.
A.Gregory. © 2017
andrew.force10media@gmail.com / www.outpostmedia.co.uk
