Radford is a band that confuses me.
On one hand, their self-titled debut release has the quirky
sound of late-’70s bands that is both hard to pin down and is quite
appealing to my ear. On the other hand, it almost sounds like I’m
listening to the love child of The Stone Roses, Oasis and The
Charlatans UK with the overlapping guitar and vocal work. The end
result is still a very listenable album, though you might find your
head spinning by the end.
The band – vocalist/guitarist Jonny Mead, guitarist/vocalist
Chris Hower, bassist/vocalist Bobby Stefano and drummer/vocalist
Kane McGee – obviously know how to write decent songs; this is
evident throughout
Radford. Tracks like “Don’t Stop,” “Come On,” “Over You” and
“Ash In My Life” all appeal to the listener’s emotions and senses
in a unique way. But often I found myself wondering, “Is this
really Oasis without the heavy accents?” There is a touch of the
Britpop
wunderkids in Radford’s music, but not so much that you
would scream “copycat”.
Instead, Radford seems to draw their musical inspiration from
groups like The Stone Roses and The Charlatans UK, both of whom
seemed to perfect the layered sound of guitar armies and vocals.
Radford has learned these lessons, though the occasional feedback
weirdness in “You’ve Got Friends” threatens to take the listener
out of the mix far too early. I hadn’t recovered from that even by
the time I got through the second track “Closer To Myself”.
But where Radford do inject their own signature into the mix is
when there is an acoustic vein thrown into the pot. Tracks like
“Fly” and “How Does It Feel?” greatly benefit from this twist, and
it allows some fresh air to come into the project. If anything,
these breaks help to rejuvanate the music, and tracks like “Stand
On The Moon” and “Overflow” seem to be more palatable.
Radford is by no means a bad album, nor is Radford a bad
group. There is a lot of promise that this quartet has in store,
and it will be fun to follow them throughout their career. But
while their first album is still a pleasant enough listen, it
almost feels like they took the safe route with it – and if I were
making my living as a musician, I can’t say I wouldn’t do the same
thing. This is still a disc worth checking out, especially if you
like late-’80s Britpop with a twist.
