by George Neame
Regardless of the actual music they produce, local Southampton-based trio Band of Skulls can instantly be commended for one thing; originality. It’s very infrequent in the consistently emerging age of pop idols to come across a band exploring such a variety of sounds and styles. Sweet Sourdelves deep into the expanding genre of ‘rock’ and the results are understandably diverse. It seems quite unfortunate that the times they are let down are attempts at stadium-rock guitar solos and instrumentals such as those in Wanderlust and the title track Sweet Sour, which appears to be tediously building up to something truly magnificent, before the band seem to give up in the last minute. Where Band of Skulls shine through though is when they take on their almost unique stance on blues-rock, the mixed and overlapping male and female vocals giving beautiful edge to some very carefully-crafted tunes. Similar to The Maccabees in style both musically and lyrically, songs like Close to Nowhere and Hometowns make an otherwise average album into something slightly more laid-back and innovative, something worth a listen to those who have become bored with the generic pop sound filling the music world today.
Star Rating: ***
Next week: Sounds from Nowheresville by The Ting Tings
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