Scotch Funeral are a one piece band who hail from Rhyl. Adam James has been making music for years but recently decided to start taking it seriously. Some previous releases include ‘Shit Christmas’ & ‘Oh Silenus’, all of which are available on his Bandcamp page. (scotchfuneral.bandcamp.com)
‘Blame It On The Moon’ has a great opening riff and I love the backing vocals in the chorus. No band here, just guitar and vocals and it works really well. Am I hearing a Ramones influence here?? Or is it Neil Young?
We go full band for ‘A Lovely Day’. As this song progresses I find myself sucked into this music already. ‘Bad Things Come In Threes’ is a great feel good song with great lyrics. For a one man band I’m really impressed and enjoying this.
‘Mallory’ is another instance of how every song on this album tells a story. I like this in music, it keeps me sucked into a song. ‘For Dante And The First Voice’ kicks off with a great riff and continues throughout. My mind is now trying to imagine these songs live. ‘Pollyanna Girl’ gives us some nice intro melodies and this song leads nicely into ‘Young At Heart And Falling Apart’. I adore the dirty mix on this, reminds me of Neil Young. ‘I Am the Oil Spill’ continues that nice dirty mix. There’s a nice but short bridge in this but it works. ‘Ruthless Town’ starts in a nice refreshing way, nice riff and again some nice backing vocals. Final track ‘Hills Around My Hometown’ starts like a very lazy ‘Rocking in the Free World’, and I mean this in a good way. Definitely Neil Young here. Great stuff.
This album has great songs. These great songs could be even greater with a full live band. It may not be everybody’s cup of tea, but it’s mine. I’m off to put the kettle on.
Score 8/10
Reviewed by Sty
Track Listing
1 – Blame It On The Moon
2 – A Lovely Day
3 – Bad Things Come In Threes
4 – Mallory
5 – For Dante And The First Voice
6 – Pollyanna Girl
7 – Young Heart And Falling Apart
8 – I Am The Oil Spill
9 – Ruthless Town
10 – Hills Around My Hometown
Needle In The Groove 