Stunning debut from a band who surely have a big future
Artiste: Ivyrise
Nationality: British (English)
Album: Ivyrise
Year: 2011
Label: Big Cartel
Genre: Rock
Tracks:
Hurts
Too much
Yes to running
Line up the stars
Looks like Heaven
You know me
El Paso
Run from you
Last words
With you till the end
Scars
Chronological position: Debut album
Familiarity: One single
Interesting factoid:
Initial impression: Good and rocky with some pop melodies and yeah, very memorable.
Best track(s): Hurts, You know me, El Paso, Last words
Worst track(s): Nary a one
Comments: Just heard a single from these guys and was so impressed I grabbed their debut, and to date only, album. It's a kind of mixture of pop and rock, sort of on the style of The Script, Coldplay, Deacon Blue, that kind of thing. The opener is very catchy, with a great sense of fun despite the title, and it more or less continues in that vein. Guitars figure a little too heavily for this to be rated as pop, but it's certainly very chartworthy music, and I would have thought that Ivyrise would have got a lot of airplay: as I'm only hearing about them now, a year later, and the Wiki page isn't even updated to include this album, I can't say if they were a big hit or not, but they should have been.
There's a really anthemic chorus to
Yes to running, very infectious and with a great U2-style piano intro
Line up the stars was the first single taken from the album. A little more restrained than some of the tracks on the album; I would have chosen the opener or
Yes to running personally, but it's a good song nonetheless. There's even some semi-country flavour in
You know me, which again I think would have made a great single, perhaps a successful one. Touch of the old Wet Wet Wet in it, the likes of “Angel eyes”, also some Nickelback.
What I like about this band, the initial impression (that has lasted) is that they're primarily a rock band, using some influences from already established bands but still injecting shots of pop, country, indie and creating a sound that while not unique is something that I think may become identified with them. Pretty much each song is catchy, well written and well played, and the performance in particular of main songwriter, vocalist and piano man Ben Falinski really drives this band, while the guitars of Dan Tanner are not to be sneezed at either.
You know, I could go on, but as the album runs I realise that there isn't one bad track on it, and every one could qualify as a standout, which makes picking favourite tracks from it something of a problem, but a problem I'm happy to have. These guys should be huge. A really good debut, and I can only see them going from strength to strength as time goes on.
Overall impression: A whole lot better than I was expecting. Really like this.
Intention: Keep an eye on these guys!