BLACK CAR is one person; Dan Glendinning, who apparently wrote and recorded these tunes at his East London home before ( upon the insistence of friends who thought they were too good to remain home recordings ) re-recording them with the full complement of trad rock instruments.
It's a lush sounding affair of epic guitar pop in the vein of early
Radiohead and Jeff Buckley. The first song and title track; 'Asleep at the Wheel' starts off all softly, acoustic guitar and untreated vocals cracking under the strain of all those intense emotions. Of course it's only a matter of time until the rest of the band are in there giving it the full throttle, reaching a crescendo before ending with a return to the same softly softly acoustic approach. You get the picture? it's a little bit by the numbers.
The second tune could be an outtake from an early Radiohead album. The singer choosing to vent some of that pent up angst declaring ' I don't give a fuck if it rains' and in doing so providing the Ep with it's most daring moment. But hey! who says it has be daring to be enjoyed? "Road Trip" the last of the three tunes is the most understated, and is a cool post rock drifter ; the nicest tune here. A slight twinge of Americana, maybe a hint of Tweedy, an upfront piano and a welcome chill along the lines of My Morning
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Jacket.
This isn't a bad effort, far from it. The songs are well written and the production is crisp and clear, it's just too generic, it could be one from any of a whole number of guitar bands. He might have been better sticking closer to the sound of the original home based recordings! who knows?
That said, there are plenty that prefer the middle of the road and if you recognise that about yourself , then this Black Car could be the one for you.
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