Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
When you are afforded the opportunity to listen to a loose collection of songs, a dip into the ocean of artistic endeavour and pre-E.P. planning, then the honourable thing to do is to take that opportunity and allows the un-bound and unrestricted access to all areas.
For the Wicked Splinters, the tracks that have the theme of real life, of the obscured being witnessed and enlarged, of being presented as if invoking random characters by Martin Amis into a world of possibilities, may not yet be seen in an E.P. form or ready for the lengthy process that accompanies the rigours of an album. They are there though, they stand out proud and ready for action whilst at the same time skulking in the shadow of opportunity, like a gumshoe waiting for the final killer clue in which to snare the villain, Wicked Splinters wait patiently for the right moment for their songs to capture the right ears.
The songs, Ronnie, Down In The Water, Girl and Wolves and Monkey Nuts capture the imagination, they seek attention without having the necessity of a home in which to belong to and yet as each lyric unfolds, the need for a home becomes obvious, they deserve the singular epic approach as all good tales do. These are the finesse in the infinite, the homeless warriors who stir passion and belief in the making of music but to whom require a castle to be seen as impregnable within.
The finesse is certainly there, each song carries with it an element of grace and the wicked smile of the story-teller indulging his art, the loose chapters of enjoyment that are bound together by theme and whisper, if not by an inlay card or casing.
Girl and Wolves in particular is a song that is both cool and humbling, a track that brings out the very best in the loose semblance of stories and offers a huge insight into the potential of the band.
Whilst it might be a while before the songs are collected together under one glowing roof, they nonetheless stand out as being a force that won’t fall apart or disintegrate by being separate entities for the time being; a great collection of heroes tied by a band who have a lot to offer.
Ian D. Hall