Elly Roberts reviews
Rob McCulloch: Thoughts Alone
Distributed by
Nemesis
- Released: November 2005
- Rating: 6/10
Even though Rob McCulloch hails from Bolton,
clearly the Manchester music scene has influenced his repertoire. He also
likes Paul Weller, Tim Burgess and The Stones Roses - a potent mix.
Nineteen year old singer - songwriter McCulloch has garnered a local fan
base in his hometown, and is now attempting to target a larger audience.
With the right exposure he should succeed.
Under his belt, he has delivered a debut indie CD full of versatility and
promise. He rocks - power opener Let It Go and Be Free - a cool pair indeed.
Balladeering with equal class and quality, Taking Off With You hints at The
Verve's genteel sways on this meticulous album of fascinating passionate,
introspection and thoughtful lyrics, as part of his observational template.
Melody driven and well structured, he has a clearly defined objective
of making music that resonates at all levels of age and gender, possibly in
the same mould as Richard Ashcroft .
For a teenager, he has a profound and unparalleled depth to the
lyrical content, in true troubadour fashion. A subtle splattering of raunchy
guitars, strings, neat beats, simple but gorgeous acoustic guitar, all
thrown into a tidy blend. The voice isn't the best in the world, but more
than compliments his compositions. At his aching best it's irresistible
stuff.
Keep an eye out for McCulloch - he's destined for considerable success.
The full list of tracks included are :
DVDs reviewed by the editor are watched on a Panasonic TXW32R4 32" widescreen TV
connected to either a Creative Dxr2 DVD-ROM player or Microsoft Xbox and
played through a Sony STR-DB930 amplifier.
Review & concert pics copyright © Elly Roberts, 2004-2008.
