 | | Indigo Jones - 40 Miles |
Still, they’ve managed to make it to album number three despite the lack of airplay, and for the most part, you’ll be rather glad they did. They may be attached to Guy Garvey’s Skinny Dog label and have toured with I Am Kloot, but theirs is not the usual Mancunian sound. Yes, there’s an acoustic centre and a certain amount of drenched heart-wrenching going on, but their bar-fly laments and songs of blues-beaten brouhahas are twisted with a distinctly Californian flavour (oddly enough, given that lead singer Scott Alexander came to Manchester from Australia via New Orleans, Stockholm and Valencia). Less Elbow, more Counting Crows, you might say. It makes for some interesting listening. Steel guitars and violins interweave with the simple drums and melodies, while the gravely sombreness of Alexander’s voice offers a weary weight to proceedings, and while things are occasionally over-wrought, the results are mostly of a genuine sparse beauty. Will it get them the attention they deserve? Probably not, but it’s more than worth giving a go to the album anyway so that they’re more than just a name to you. | 
