Contrary to popular belief, despite the fact that I write this internationally acclaimed column, the overnight success that is the new comic Hands Down and the glory of being an imaginary talking head on countless podcasts, I don’t have a lot of spending cash. Unfortunately, this means I don’t get to catch as many concerts as I did in my rent free youth. One concert I did manage to stump up my cash for recently was Brendan Benson playing in Vicar Street, Dublin.

This gig was originally scheduled for a venue not even half the size of Vicar Street but got bumped up pretty quickly due to ticket sales. This pleased me to great end as the last time Brendan played in the city he was in The Village. A nice venue admittedly but one much smaller than what he, arguably, deserves. I was there that night. It was his tour for his third album The Alternative To Love, an LP pre-Racontours and also pre-world domination. This tour is for his 4th album, and first since the previously mentioned super group, My Old Familiar Friend. So would this new album on the back of such exposure kick Mr Benson into the stratosphere?

No, would be the answer if you read too much into the crowd in Vicar Street. Yeah, it was a large crowd but it wasn’t sold out and the reaction of these people? I have never been so embarrassed to be part of a crowd in my life. They were dull. They didn’t move, make noise, anything. It was painful.

Brendan on the other hand was fantastic. He played an amazingly dense set of his best songs past and present. I would have said it was a great crowd pleasing set but you couldn’t tell with these statues.

The thing is, despite being a fantastic song writer, he just doesn’t have that electricity on stage that can make people go wild. Great songs and a humble attitude but the panties aren’t going to drop. I think the problem lies in the fact that he is a notoriously tough guy to interview. A shyness and awkwardness prevail in moments when he is wanted to be a bag of ego in sunglasses. In some ways it’s what we all want in a musician. That bravado that encapsulates what rock and roll is to so many people. It’s fitting then, in a way, that he opened the night’s proceedings with Folk Singer. The song begins with “Like a folk singer song I’m moving on and I’m not the type of man who acts very strong when the girls are looking on”. Maybe that’s the problem, Brendan.

I can’t recommend him enough, however, as he truly is an amazing musician. He’s no Bono but he’s what I’m looking for. Have a listen here www.myspace.com/brendanbenson

In the mean time, I have friend requests I need to dissect. So lets get into it.
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KAT CROSS
www.myspace.com/myspacekatcross

Kat is a classically trained musician from Toulouse, France. Playing on the road with a group called Talkative she seemingly has been playing lots of dates around Ireland recently.

It would be hard to describe a genre to sink Kat into. I don’t know if “eclectic” is a genre in itself but I’ve already bought the rubber stamp so I’m going to hit her with it. The thing is, about eclecticity, is that it often goes hand in hand with being hit and miss. The highs, such as the title song of her album Déjá Vu, are really good. Melodically layered and genuinely expressive. The lows however are forgetful and messy.

She obviously has a talent and an artistic sort of expression I’ve come to expect from French musicians. Previous MMT additions such as The Agency show that this can work out superbly. The thing is though, I don’t feel any connection to the music. This is a bit of a personal thing as despite my apathy there is plenty of feeling in her work. But nothing makes me want to go listen again after a day or two’s absence and that’s not a good sign.

She writes in her profile “When played live, these compositions find some intriguing alterations and a sometimes radical new direction to the originals” which, despite being kinda pretentious, is actually pretty accurate. Songs get louder and heavier (if the video clip-show is anything to go by) thanks to Talkative getting down with their bad selves.

There is lots of interesting stuff here. Kat Cross is someone I’d even go as far to say as being under-exposed for someone of her talent. Unfortunately, it’s just not for me. But I bet there will be plenty of you out there who will enjoy it. So go give her a listen.

Presentation = 4/5
Content = Enough to keep you occupied for an hour.
Music = 4/5
Friend Request = DENIED!

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RAY DUNNE
www.myspace.com/ray.dunne

When I first went to Ray’s page and saw the Country/Punk/Blues tag, I have to admit that I was apprehensive. First of all, country and punk don’t go together. Secondly, I dislike country. I’m a city boy. Country never spoke to me. I don’t wear a hat unless it’s cold. Even the great Johnny Cash never stirred my soul. But Ray Dunne is from County Kildare and it being the week of St Patrick I feel I must give my countryman a chance.

For a man who looks to be younger than middle age (no details are given) he has an amazingly grizzled voice. Either he smokes 40 a day or he once had a run in with Obi Wan on a mining planet. The voice works though. I think you need a voice that sounds like you’ve had a tough life to sell the blues properly. Otherwise it’s not authentic.

To be honest, the country tag isn’t too accurate anyway. There has always been a fine line with country and traditional Irish ballads. Ray jumps back and forth across this line sufficiently to make his songs palatable. I’ve said before that there is nothing worse than musicians singing songs that aren’t relatable to their own life and background. English punk bands saying words like “mom” and singing with an accent, for example. It’s not you, so don’t do it. Ray, however, feels distinctly Irish. Yes there are influences but this is his own.

Even on your first play of these songs, you’re singing along by the end. There is something distinctly primal about these kind of folk songs. Especially in Ireland, I don’t know if it’s the same elsewhere, genetically we’re built with an urge to sing-a-long to this sort of thing. It’s an artform in itself but these songs are crafted perfectly for a group chanting. Maddeningly catchy.

Frustratingly he has only 3 songs available to listen on his profile and a 4th which is an album preview, essentially a bunch of songs clipped together. The really stupid thing is 2 of these songs are part of the 3 you can play in full. Get it together, man.

Go give Nothing Left To Say and Juliet a listen. You’ll get them stuck in your head for a day. Then go send him a message for more because, while impressive, there isn’t enough here to convert me.

Presentation = 2/5
Content = One picture, lots of quotes and not enough songs. Needs to work on this page.
Music = 4/5
Friend Request = DENIED!

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MILK
www.myspace.com/milkmyspacemusic

Milk are a four piece from Dublin, Ireland. They have a good guitarist and seem to gig regularly in and around the city.

Right, so that’s the positives out of the way.

I can’t listen to this without getting Soft Rocked By Me by Jonathan Coulton in my head. This is soft rock by numbers. The lead singer never raises his voice above a whisper. In fact, you know how bad actors are when they try to convey they’re thirsty, they do that “…water” thing? Well he sings like he’s constantly dehydrated. This whiney noise doesn’t grate on me as much as it should purely because at the end of almost every line in these songs there is a repeat of the last phrase by a back up voice. It cracks me up how much they use this tactic. For example, in No Words, even the first word is repeated!

It’s hard to spend much time reviewing this. The lyrics are terribly cheesy. Lots of stuff about walls separating us and such. It’s just terrible.

It took everything in me not to review this band with only the phrase “shit sandwich”. I must be growing or something.

Presentation = 1/5
Content = Very basic page. But at least they included some videos.
Music = 1.5/5 (and that 1 is purely for the guitarist)
Friend Request = DENIED!

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IN THE AUDIENCE
www.myspace.com/intheaudience

In The Audience is a band lead by the young Jordan Stowell of Portland, Maine. I mention that it’s lead by him because it really seems more like a solo project than a band of any kind. Jordan plays the type of songs you’d expect to hear on an indie movie soundtrack. Jingly, summery tunes of acoustic optimism. Very listenable.

The hippy love train is exactly what you would expect from a town like Portland. It can get too much in places but that depends more on your frame of mind than In The Audience. They clearly have a sound and I don’t think there is any need to change it. If it was on the radio I wouldn’t turn it off and their song Shine sounds radio ready.

Maybe it’s because I’ve had to listen to In The Audience a lot today in order to review it but suddenly I feel the need to hug a stranger. I helped pull a thorn out of an animal’s paw on the way home. Helped an old lady cross the street… Could someone slap me in the face to snap me out of this?

You can download their album On A Cliff By The Sea from their page for free. So you can jump on this rainbow of happiness yourself. When you’re there don’t forget to donate your old clothes to the local charity shop.

I need a shower.

Presentation = 3/5
Content = Not loads but what’s there is laid out well.
Music = 3/5
Friend Request = DENIED!

– When Aaron finally snaps out of his loved-up daze he’ll be doing another one of these as soon as you send him your friend request. Pop over to www.myspace.com/aaronhbp and add the man.

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