19 Dec Sounzgood Website
Dylan Storey- Out Of The Soup December 2009
Dylan Storey’s third album ‘Out of the soup’ I must say is an enjoyable listen. The Auckland musician who’s been a mainstay of the NZ Music scene for some tie now has produced an album packed with poetic goodness and impressive musicianship. For those not familiar with Storey his music is a mixture of Alt Country and Blues rock and roll (with tinges of the psychedelic). The opening track ‘Travelling Salesmen’ is a country style rocky up-tempo track with a hooky chorus and catchy lyrics. It’s the kind of song I would enjoy on a hot summer road trip, a perfect opening song to hook you into the album. The good times roll on with the second track ‘Lies make an honest man’ a laid back beachy pub tune. When I listen to these two opening tracks I imagine myself at a Raglan pub on a sunny day (a Sunday perhaps) with a cold beer in hand just kicking back enjoying these tunes. The albums start does a good job in hooking you in and making you want more. ‘The Skies above Crete’ is the first darkish moment of the album. Storey has a yearning, heartfelt tone in his singing. If you entered the room halfway through this song you may be forgiven for thinking it was a Bob Dylan song with the whiney tone of Storey’s voice (in a GOOD Bob Dylan-ish way of course). One of my personal favourite tracks is the lazy ‘Footsteps of kings’. The track is a slow burning bluesy jam that reminds me of a Fly My Pretties tune. The song is a relaxing gem that would be perfect hangover music. The title track ‘Out of the soup’ chops and changes abit too much for my liking. It’s got that country knee slapping quality going on then it suddenly slams on the brakes into a calm chorus. I love it when the Mint Chicks do this jerkiness but it just seemed inappropriate here. It then goes into some psychedelic blues guitar that also distracts from the earlier promising knee slapping. It had me at the honky tonk knee slapping stage, this should have continued. I could have done with more of that. This is my only real gripe with the album and it’s not a major one. The last two tracks of the album start to get very murky and deep. Storey starts showing off his dark and brooding side on ‘Never turn your back on the sea’. It’s a wintery rainy day solo listen. This song is one of those ones that prompt angst and self-introspectiveness. If you’re not in a good frame of mind this is probably not one for you. The last track on the album ‘The Tempest’ is a whale of a song. Its starts of with some up beat rock, which really hooks you in before going into a led zep type blues guitar solo before tapering right of to a quiet solemn sadness. The end bit features some tear jerking blues guitar. This song is the kind you would hear in Christchurch’s Southern Blues Bar stained off your tits on whiskey, drowned in your own quiet self-pity at three in the morning. Simply beautiful, a good end to a good album. Every song on ‘Out of the soup’ is listenable and likeable. It’s the kind of album you can play from start to finish. You could chuck this on while you and your buddies’ are having a few drinks and be confident know one would complain. You wouldn’t get the cries of ‘what’s this bloody music?’ In fact I believe after a few tracks in you’ll probably have your friends enquiring who this guy is followed by comments like ‘this is quite good’ and ‘I could get into this’. If you’re a fan of the genre blues or the work of Fly My Pretties, Ryan Adams, Bob Dylan or Anna Coddington this album will be one for you. Enjoy some of this album with friends and beers and some of it with lonely solace.
Matt Hicks