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In
their biography, Raised By Animals claim to be 'a
little bit removed from their peers' – a claim
new bands often make, but in this case it's actually
true. The off-kilter country rock of opener Talkin'
Circles threatens to burst into life from the outset
but remains nicely low-key and manages to confound
the listeners' expectations on a number of occasions.
The repeating 'woo-ooh' vocal melody sounds like
it should be a cliché but its curious delivery
and slight mistiming give it a compelling effect.
The sing-along chorus "one drink too many and
you think you know me" seems to gesture towards
the song kick-starting but before long it knowingly
slips back into the vocal refrain and the understated
verse. The backing vocals are used to excellent
effect to reiterate the strange lethargic feel (although
the pace is actually fairly quick) and suggest that
this would be the perfect song to help waste away
a hazy summer day.
The
verses of You Said... sound strangely like the verses
of Soundgarden's 'Black Hole Sun' but, again, Raised
By Animals keep it remarkably understated where
Soundgarden go for overblown. The chorus simply
chugs along with a stop/start riff and extra backing
vocals – not much else changes. A fantastic
vocal performance and another sense that the band
are deliberately holding something back makes for
a fascinating listen.
The
intro and first verse of Firefly sound initially
like that of a typical 80s rock power ballad but
yet again what sounds like a cliché is actually
cleverly turned around by the band and they end
up sounding like 60s band Love. The chorus of this
is track is perhaps the only disappointing part
of the whole demo – simply because it does
sound like you might expect but, with so much of
this demo proving difficult to pinpoint, it's easy
to forgive them.
Whether it’s through meticulous musicianship
or just a knack, Raised By Animals certainly manage
to sound removed from their peers – and, in
fact, from most groups full stop. Sheffield
Music.com , Aug 2004 |
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