Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

There is nothing wrong with being peculiar, only in the eyes of the ordinary and the dull is the word used in such derogatory terms, it implies that to have a quirk that cannot be knocked back into the shape that society demands to feel that everything is normal, is to be concerned about, wary of, even scared of, because to the many peculiar means strange, whereas to the individual, to the distinctively eccentric, it is a special kind of uniqueness that should be protected at all costs.

Protection is one thing, to praise the art of the Peculiar is a whole other game to which the deftness of the universal will always present as indomitable, a truth of our own existence. It can be argued sincerely that if we were to look closely at ourselves in our day to day habits we would find the truth of this, that we are all peculiar, beautifully, individually, together and amazingly peculiar, and the track we dance to is just as often on beat to enhance that message, we just have to listen to the soul who reminds us of that.

To make a tune memorable, irresistible, as well as compelling, requires more than just the ability to pitch an idea and hope that the communication is understood, it has to vary what you would expect and want from the artist in question, and the battering ram of the unexpected which gives the track a sense of individuality, of freedom and the surprise of the understanding mind.

It is a freedom that Barry Briercliffe has always espoused, whether on his own or in the group environment, effective, passionate and full of joy, the song may vary but the enjoyment remains, the thrill continues.

The listener may expect the unexpected, but Barry Briercliffe delivers a new sense of the Peculiar, uniquely cool, always played with the right groove. The listener could not ask for more.

Ian D. Hall