Thick Syrup - 'Living In Leeds' Album Review

Tracklist:

1. Jennifer

2. Heavy Syrup

3. Magic Carpet

4. Stone Grove

5. Boiling Point

6. Lama

7. Grave Robber

8. Lady Anne Arise

Opening track 'Jennifer' hasn’t even got going and I’m smiling already, that’s a good sign. It’s got a Rock feel to it with a hint of The White Stripes until the vocals kick in, think siouxsie sioux and Kate Bush, the two shouldn’t gel but they do and that marks these guys out as something different. It’s punchy, it’s fresh and oh, it’s over! The nemesis of the dj, it stops very abruptly.

'Heavy Syrup' opens like a Reverend And The Makers and launches into an Arctic Monkeys feeling track, the female vocals continuing to throw the listener a loop. Not sure whether it should work on paper but it does. There is something off kilter that is keeping me listening to them, they sound urgent. The fact that the songs are relatively short adds to the urgency and stops the listener getting bored, or even comfortable with the track.

'Magic Carpet' is more of a funky beast, I’m sitting nodding my head as I type this, think Red Hot Chili Peppers -Dani Maybe beat wise, plenty of tight drums and an awesome guitar lick or two.

'Stone Grove' is immediately more urgent, wasp like! My slight problem with the vocals is I can’t always make out what is being sung, but I suspect that’s more to do with my hearing, I could do with the singer being higher in the mix.

'Boiling Point' is starting to remind me of Sonic Boom Six although they sound nothing like it. The band are using Heavy Rock as a starting point and heading off from there to see where they get, it’s a formula that clearly works for them, I want to know more about them.

'Lama' suddenly changes tack, it’s still funky as a funky thing that’s quite funky, but it’s a brighter, lighter affair, and is that a touch of brass I hear in there? It’s making me want to get down with my bad self and I don’t even know what that means!

'Grave Robber' returns to their Hard Rock roots, these people really know what they are doing. Gemma, their vocalist has even changed her vocal style in this song, reminding me of Altered Images (kids ask your parents) 'Lady Anne Arise' slows everything down, I swear it has a western movie soundtrack feel to it, that was a twist I wasn’t expecting, it also reminds me of Ride too. Interesting!

If you want something a bit different but you are worried about going too far out of your comfort zone then I would recommend Thick Syrup to you. If you like a bit of a funky beat then you could do far worse than buy 'Living In Leeds'.