CD Reviews

Starting off with one of Guernsey most well known bands, Hobo Sounds, and their song Broken, which displays a style of music that could fit right in with the late 1990s American alternative rock scene while gaining an extra edge by echoing earlier acts such as the Dead Kennedys and the Clash and gives a clear indication of the musical direction some of these guys were going to take in their newly formed band Gay Army.

The Bensons. Photo by Yannic Bearder

The second track on the disc is from The Jessica Question and has a very scuzzy guitar sound which perfectly complements their early era Manic Street Preachers sound, accompanied by a pounding rhythm section that drives the song home and proves Guernsey can offer at least as much as South Wales when it comes to pop rock angst.

Next up the CD changes tack totally with Therapeutic Hoovering doing what they seem to do best, slamming through two and half minutes of prime emo pop in the vain of Dude Ranch era Blink 182 or the Ataris’ pre ‘So Long Astoria’. Mixing the trademark buzzing guitars and RSI inducing drums of the genre with the lyrical themes of mild depression caused by young love to provide a catchy, surprisingly summery song which really sounds like Guernsey has become a part of southern California for a few minutes.

Envy/Jealousy by Thee Jenerators bashes its way off the record with a tale unrequited love and desire. As the latest band from Guernsey to have a single released nationally here we can see why they would have been given such an opportunity as the song mixes the fast upbeat nature of punk with a more traditional rock style.

Following on from Thee Jenerators comes a very unique track, originally taken from Mechanical Lobster’s album ‘The Best of Mechanical Lobster’, ‘Franco Must Be Destroyed’ here appears remixed by local DJ manfromankle. With a sound and style, that could have been ripped right from the heart of Nine Inch Nails main man Trent Reznor, the crashing guitars and anguished vocals mix perfectly with manfromankle’s beats to make somewhat of an industrial metal beast.

This beast is then well and truly tamed by the Red Hot Chilli Peppers meets Tom Jones sound of The Bensons and their track ‘Mighty Fine’. Taking the funky style of the cheesiest lounge singers around and mixing it with a good slice of funk the Bensons sound can only be described by the first word of this song, ‘sexy!’

Remainder 3

Colonel K are up next to tell us their Queens of the Stone Age style ‘Bulls**t Story’. Taking a heavy bass line as its framework and adding on snarling guitars and a female vocal to tell their tale makes for a roller coaster ride of a track.
3 piece Sintonic then follow up with a track somewhat reminiscent of Therapy?’s ‘Troublegum’ album taking that style of guitar sound and mixing it with lyrics telling a tale of alienation that many can relate to ‘Laugh at Me’ is a slice of pure disaffected youth right from the mid-90s rock songbook.

We are then presented with an almost ‘wall of noise’ type sound by Remainder 3 and their ‘Cerebral Fix’. With a very heavy guitar sound and duel male and female vocals this sits like a slab of hard rock with something extra laid on top make this one of the most interesting songs on the record and makes Remainder 3 one of the most interesting bands on the Guernsey scene.

Finally we are treated to 3 minutes of typically puerile pop punk from the Blink 182 school as Goldfish Don’t Bounce tell us the story of a ‘Punk Rock Chick’. While not the most original song on the album it stands up a solidly entertaining piece of American style, almost radio friendly, pop fluff.