There are not one, not two but three Dicks in Yorkshire’s THE BIG BLUE.
Richard Wheater sings, Richard Stelmach plays the drums and Richard Larder blows his own trumpet. The line-up is completed by Allan Stelmach on guitar and Mark Kingston on keyboards.
THE BIG BLUE have released a self-produced 5-track EP called ‘Something To Hold On To’ which is a fine sentiment but misplaced in relation to their music. Their songs are rather humdrum, at times awkward and insular, often crocked by the poor singing of Richard (Dick#1). Opening track ‘This Is The Deal’ relates a tale about dealers, pagans and “cutthroat pirates waiting at the borders” and may be an attempt at allegorical folk but comes across more as clumsy sixth-form poetry.
At first the opening bars of rites of passage song ‘Seventeen’ hints at a brighter offering with its urgent acoustic strumming and the harmonics of the accordion but it soon runs out of steam and ideas within a minute. ‘Been and Gone’ returns us to the dull strumming that I’ve come to realise is a significant affliction of this band's arrangements: better vocals this time. ‘Paper Thin’ benefits from the piano taking centre stage (reminds me of REM's 'Nightswimming') but unfortunately still has the limited range of Mr. Wheatley singing (and murmuring like Michael Stipe) over the top: nice instrumental outro though.
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Best track is the final effort, ‘Nagging Girl’ where the band finally sounds like a group. It kind of puts them in Ben and Jason territory. Good dynamics in the instrumentation. I’m hoping that it’s their most recent composition and that the consensus within the group is that it sets the minimum standard by which songs will make it onto future releases.
Because at the moment THE BIG BLUE are a very, very small drop in the ocean.
www.thebigbluewebsite.co.uk
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