25 May 2013
The Pleasures Of June - Perfect Strangers review
05 May 2009 // A review by trevf
The Pleasures Of June
Perfect Strangers
The Pleasures of June present a somewhat enigmatic front, with very little that a casual (or even less casual) Google reveals, and no press release to accompany this release. Perhaps this duo of multi-instrumentalists would just rather we “ judge on the music”.
This album offers no easy paths to quick judgements either, as the music weaves through a very broad spectrum of stylistic flavours. The My Space descriptor of “Americana” represents perhaps the best fit available, but that is far too narrow to describe what is going on here.
Examples? Well, I Know Ya evokes the feel of classic late seventies FM era Eagles, right down to the fade out guitar solo. A Thousand Reasons sways into more traditional country, with the requisite fiddle melodic refrains. Out Of Time-the stand out track on this album- hints at the same kind of dreamy guitar-scape we used to hear from The Church.
And throughout this album there is the kind of vocal arrangements and guitar flavours that perhaps DO justify the Americana tag. Close your eyes and there are hints of The Byrds, REM, and whole tradition of country guitar rock.
This CD has, perhaps, no real pop moments for modern trendsters and with its tempos and more subtle arrangements might favour a more mature audience, but it has been crafted with such an intelligent and musical approach that the result is frequently quite beguiling.
Review by Trevf
The Pleasures Of JunePerfect Strangers
The Pleasures of June present a somewhat enigmatic front, with very little that a casual (or even less casual) Google reveals, and no press release to accompany this release. Perhaps this duo of multi-instrumentalists would just rather we “ judge on the music”.
This album offers no easy paths to quick judgements either, as the music weaves through a very broad spectrum of stylistic flavours. The My Space descriptor of “Americana” represents perhaps the best fit available, but that is far too narrow to describe what is going on here.
Examples? Well, I Know Ya evokes the feel of classic late seventies FM era Eagles, right down to the fade out guitar solo. A Thousand Reasons sways into more traditional country, with the requisite fiddle melodic refrains. Out Of Time-the stand out track on this album- hints at the same kind of dreamy guitar-scape we used to hear from The Church.
And throughout this album there is the kind of vocal arrangements and guitar flavours that perhaps DO justify the Americana tag. Close your eyes and there are hints of The Byrds, REM, and whole tradition of country guitar rock.
This CD has, perhaps, no real pop moments for modern trendsters and with its tempos and more subtle arrangements might favour a more mature audience, but it has been crafted with such an intelligent and musical approach that the result is frequently quite beguiling.
Review by Trevf
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