Slo-Mo

It's impossible not to be won over by Slo-Mo. Whether it's the fact that their ambitions are always ten times larger than what they can achieve or whether it's the fact they f**k with conventions and fuse a variety of genre's without it ever sounding too "eclectic". Slo-Mo's sound seems effortlessly natural and is built around the core song writing of Sheffield's David Gledhill. Tired of performing in bands that were never going anyway he bought a computer and started taking a different approach to song writing and fusing it with his love of The Smiths and The Stone Roses. Now with a band to back him up the debut album sees him taking it from the bedroom to the live stage and early tours included personally selected support slots for the likes of Soft Cell.

For those of you who heard "Death Of A Raver" across Radio 1 for most of the first part of the year it will come somewhat of a surprise that it's the least ambitious song on the album. Take "Lost Stones" which sounds like Dubstar never went away with a touch of Cinerama's wide screen lovelorn acoustic beauty. "Girl From Alaska" samples again from a rare latin jazz record and a a line "I dream about blood on my hands from where I just cut you" which sounds uncannily like an inverted I Am Kloot lyric. "Junkie On A Fast Train" sounds like Tricky and Massive Attack bathing on a beach while analogue keyboards send random signals to outta space. "Love Hate Devotion" rewrites the Special's "Ghost Town" and places it back on the streets of Sheffield and "Short Stories" sounds like Elbow's Guy Garvey fronting a Spector production.

The last two tracks are where they really hit the mark with the low slung guitar sax sensation of "Boy From The City" and the closing ballad "Tell Them I Had A Good Time". Slo-Mo's debut album may not meet what they set out to do, but with so many bands delivering the same old same old it's a refreshing chance to see a band widen the scope and follow their own path.

Alex McCann

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