| CD REVIEW Less Than Me |
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Band : Less Than Me Formed in early 2006, Less Than Me is a relatively new band from Plymouth (Southwest of England) which has been turning some necks in their part of the UK with their strong powerful live shows and Pop based modern Rock! From the get-go, it was the idea of founder members Martin Crocker (a truly extraordinary singer with an exceptional voice) and Shay Hunn (guitar, piano, backing vocals) to combine influences from the likes of Elvis Costello, Squeeze, Head Automatica, Incubus, Turning Back Sunday and Michael Jackson into their set of varied songs, which are all typified with catchy melodies, and are brought with the aid of fellow band members Dean Gilbert (guitar, programming, keyboards), Anthony Ford (bass, backing vocals) and Neil Eastley (acoustic and electronic drums, samples). Having already brought their music to other parts of the country during the heavy touring duty the boys put onto themselves, the guys wanted to record the live energy into the recording of the songs...something they claim producer Ben Humpheys succeeded in when he joined 'em at the Outhouse Studios in Reading during the 14 days the band was there in February of this year! Having put some of the songs on their MySpace page and offering the album for sale by order, the guys were then contacted (and offered a deal) by Lockjaw (deal which they took) in early July, resulting in the removal of the album from sales. The album is 10 tracks with a duration of just over 41 minutes and a variety of influences coming through according to the song you listen to! Overall, I would say the most important topic lyrically is "love" and its ups and downs. The album is opened in a somewhat minimalistic way with the very catchy and energetic bass-driven "Turn To Dust". The ensuing "Camera Shy" is somewhat less "heavy" and gets a spunky Funk injection (something which also happens, but in a lesser capacity, with "She's Going To Do It Again", later in the album). Obviously, when you're gonna do love songs, there's gonna be ballads, and "Streamlined And Open Wide" is the best example of the "sedate" version of that (occasionally, Crocker deflects his voice to be somewhat remeniscent of a Mike Patton here). Also a ballad, but with "heavier" passages, is "Out Of Love". In the category "Heavy Love Songs" in the LTM catalog, "Without You" and "I'll Still Be Waiting" can count as heaviweights. The surprise on the album with both electronic drums and synths in the tune (along to '80s Pop guitar) comes with the very Poppy "We Tried To Give It Up". The album is closed off with the guitar-driven "Start It Off" and the heavy Pop tune "I'm Over Our Sound Already". Overall, the album is catchy in its variety and great guitar play, but also and foremost thanks to Crocker's signature vocals (which has, in early reviews of the album, already been compared to Incubus' Brandon Boyd – something I disagree with, because going on the stuff I listened to at MySpace, Boyd's voice ain't quite as steady as Crocker's). Personally, I feel Crocker's slight whine would do well in a Sad Dad Trad Rock band configuration...and I think that's a far better description of the man's voice. Check it out by yourself by surfing to myspace.com/lessthanmemusic, where the band has posted mp3-samples of three songs. I'm sure trying to put a tag on this band may be somewhat difficult (especially when you've heard the complete album), but putting them somewhere in the Alternative Rock/ Power Pop range will certainly do (especially since that is a wide territory anyway...as is the band's material, eh?). If you ask men LTM is a band meant to grace the mainstream...at least with sóme of their songs! Last minute details: in late September the band announced the departure of their drummer on amical terms, something which evidently cancelled their immediate plans. Auditions for a new drummer started quite immediately, and after trying out some really good ones, they found Chris Langton who completely nailed the band's set and album. So, as of October 17, LTM is a fivesome again! The band hopes to get out and grace stages all over the UK (possibly even head out for a European trek) come early next year (details still kept under wraps). 92/100 Tony. |