Well, for all the stick Ian Brown may have got for his horribly off-key vocals in The Stone Roses, one can only thank the Lord he remained the singer. Think what could have happened if guitar hero John Squire had decided to sing back then.
Because, on hearing "Room In Brooklyn" you'll be asking King Monkey for his forgiveness. In fact, your first impression is that Squire's band had spent ages perfecting a great, supercharged spangly rocker a la Byrds crossed with late Roses and then invited the studio janitor to take five from mopping the bogs to 'lay down' some guide vocals...and then decided on a whim to leave the finished article just like that.
Actually, it's particularly disappointing because musically Squire's band really cook here. Recorded (I'd say) pretty live in the studio, both "Room In Brooklyn" and flipside - the arguably better - "Nighthawks" - are actually decent rockers, with plenty of nice, snaky interplay between Squire and second guitarist George Vjestica and some more than fair to piddling electric piano tinkling from John Ellis. It's just a terminal shame that Johnny Boy feels he has to handle the vocal 'chores' himself.
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So yeah, even though your reviewer's previously been wooed by such non-singers as Mark.E.Smith and Peter Perrett, even he can't take what is basically akin to a bronchial bullfrog after a million packs of Gitanes. Nice try, John, but please leave the vocal booth alone. You chucked Chris Helme for this?
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