aaamusic | On 04, Mar 2012

I am a man famously slow on the uptake. The next legendary band could be staring me in the face while giving me a ticket to see them in some basement in Shoreditch and I’d still pass that up to spend £45 to see Kings Of Leon or some other enormodome fillers. It would be a talent if it wasn’t so unbelievably annoying. So it is with Cheltenham folk-rockers Jim Lockey and the Solemn Sun, opportunities to see them have presented themselves rather regularly and they even supported label mate Frank Turner at the Borderline just over five feet away from where I was standing. For some reason I wasn’t impressed, why is quite beyond me because this, the first single from their second album, simply titled Death, is quite simply wonderful in a way that closest comparisons Dry The River have aimed for but not quite got hit. Lockey and his band play heavy folk with audible heart and soul without the po-faced seriousness that pervades Dry The River. Even managing to have some vocal nods to gospel while sidestepping any accusations of pretension. In total this is a fantastic song played with conviction and pride, if this is your first exposure to this band, don’t make the mistake I made. Check them out, follow them and, if you’re anything like me, you’ll probably fall in love.

 

Will Howard