Single Review: Picture

Odds & Ends

Review by Kev Rowland // 31 August 2021
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Single Review: Picture 1

The picture on the album cover is a picture, neat! That got me thinking the guys probably had a sense of humour and when I saw they describe themselves as a perfect fruit salad; filled with juicy melodies, tasty songs, and sweet, sweet harmonies, then I was sure of it. Bands with a strong sense of humour who enjoy each other’s company and having a blast tend to produce really strong songs, and Odds & Ends are yet more proof, as this is a delight from start to finish. It has been a couple of years since their last release, but this Auckland-based quartet are back with a real bang. This is alternative rock based pop, which is just full of twists and turns, all ensuring the song comes to a climax.

It commences with a gently picked electric, the rest of the band come in quickly, then just as rapidly drop away so that it is just singer Koen Aldershof and drummer Max Earnshaw. Gradually everyone comes back in, building through to the first chorus, where guitars are riffing, and there are plenty of vocals. Again, it falls away after that, although not as low as it was previously, and the build is not quite as dramatic although the second chorus is even more sweeping. One gets the impression that with a different production then we would be listening to some Foo Fighters here, but they have emphasised the pop side, although that could well be quite different in the live environment. I am positive that this where this song will really come to life, with band and audience being one great sweaty mess by the end. I am definitely looking forward to catch these guys once lockdown is over.

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About the author Kev Rowland

From 1990 – 2006 I ran Feedback fanzine in the UK, writing about bands that were rarely covered in the mainstream press, many of whom were in the underground scene. I built close ties with many British Progressive groups in particular, including writing the newsletter for Freewill, getting gigs for Credo and writing the introduction to Galahad’s OCMDII compilation. I reviewed literally thousands of cassettes and then CDs from bands from throughout the world, and was lucky enough to interview many of them. During this period I also contributed to the French progzine Acid Dragon, wrote for the music newspaper Rock ‘n’ Reel and was also involved with the Ghostland website. In 2006 I moved to NZ, and stopped running Feedback (which was then renamed Amplified after I left, at my request) having produced over 80 editions with more than 11,000 pages of print and heaven knows how many reviews

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