email: carmel.deprat@bigpond.com
Some demos come packed in sturdy A4 glossy folders with equally sturdy and glossy promo photos and five pages of band information (hey! even lyrics to songs that didn't make it to the final cd). Yep, the full package. And other demos that are sent to us are the complete opposite – like this one from Paul Davies. A cd with no cover and a simple one-pager with the song titles and some basic background on Paul.
And we love it! Despite Paul saying he 'recorded the songs at home on a PC with pretty crap equipment' they are a great sounding bunch of melodic and moody pop songs with a cool and lazy vocal, a bit similar to the Go-Betweens or Dean Wareham from Luna. The opening song 'American Eyes' is especially good with its tumbling bass line throughout and lyrics: "All I see is American failure and choice".
Paul's background is interesting too. He was in early 80s band Pel Mel who had a big hit (ie. it got loads of Double Jay and community radio airplay) with 'No Word From China'. Apparently he hasn't played professionally since that time and has only recently decided to step back into the spotlight. He has been playing with another blast from the past, former Reels drummer Stephan Fidock, and his plan is to record these songs in a 'proper' studio. Judging from the quality here, they are going to sound excellent.
As we didn't have a cd cover or a photo to go with this review, we found an old picture of Paul playing somewhere sometime in the late 70s or early 80s. Welcome back, Mr Davies. -ND
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