BEAUTIFUL FEET have been working on their indie pop sound for a few years now. And as they get more self-assured and distinctive as a unit, the music scene around them in Leeds is exploding in quantity, quality and range. So the question is, does this single put them on a par with Leeds' other independents in their class like FOUR DAY HOMBRE, THE SOMATICS, INSTANT SPECIES, GALITZA, DUELS, CARDDBOARD COWBOY, VIB GYOR and so on? (it’s a long and distinguished list and I'm nowhere near finished …)
To start with their single does well to get mentioned in such a list. Living near to Leeds I know I get a distorted impression. But are there really any other cities in England right now (Glasgow and Dublin would compete) who sit in the centre of such a prolific, talented and diverse regional scene? I'm not sure. Manchester and Liverpool are maybe having time out right now. BEAUTIFUL FEET and the other mentioned bands are Leeds representatives in the good-song fraction of the market, competing with a spectrum from Embrace or Keane through to mid-period Radiohead back catalogue.
|
Breaking into that is probably going to need more distinctive features (or luck) than BEAUTIFUL FEET exhibit here. "Headstrong" is pretty sweet. The tune has character and the opening piano and voice set off confidently on the broad path to emotional balladeering that always gets a fair hearing. But the production still sounds a bit homemade, with overemphatic drum kit and a fairly predictable rise to a fuller band sound as the song progresses. Nick Castle's singing is emotionally expressive in the quiet intro, but it deosn't strengthen as the crescendo builds. Helen Hicks (playing the piano sound) adds essential extra colour to the vocals. B side "Masterpiece" is a bit more pedestrian, with a bouncy intro that doesn’t really suit. The tune that follows is competent but undistinguished set-filler stuff. There is more of Helen's singing, which is a bonus.
|
