Matty James
Last One to Die
Pirate Heart Records
2014
For the young gentleman depicted in the above bound and answering to the name Matty James, I had never heard about, a single word, nor did his physiognomy seem known to me. I was informed that he hails from Northern Ireland and participates in two bands, Cadaver Club who are playing horror punk and Filthy Angels who are into punk & roll. “Last one to Die” seems to be a sort of solo effort that will be released, in early June, through his own Pirate Heart Records label and is an album in which Matty signs all the songs and plays the majority of musical instruments.
I heard the 10 tracks on the album and I cannot say that I was excited for something specific from all this stuff. I would say that the bulk of the record moves in an electroacoustic blues rock style using harmonica with scattered elements of rock & roll, folk and punk. We meet many ballads (about half of the record) consisting of loose homemade moments as well as some more up-tempo songs on which the melancholic tone and a darkened atmosphere are not lost upon. Matty James’s vocals are concise and he has a distinctive timbre that matches the style of music he writes and plays.
Apart from “Up in Smoke” which is a nice bluesy rock & roll song, I couldn’t pick another song from the other ones, although I tried hard. “Last one to Die” is addressed to a specific audience and if somebody is not familiar with this genre, probably will not be particularly moved to listen to it. It’s not an album that will make you feel happy, but a collection of tracks that most of us would choose to listen with a glass of our favorite drink, sitting in twilight and having in our minds the things that concerns us.
I heard the 10 tracks on the album and I cannot say that I was excited for something specific from all this stuff. I would say that the bulk of the record moves in an electroacoustic blues rock style using harmonica with scattered elements of rock & roll, folk and punk. We meet many ballads (about half of the record) consisting of loose homemade moments as well as some more up-tempo songs on which the melancholic tone and a darkened atmosphere are not lost upon. Matty James’s vocals are concise and he has a distinctive timbre that matches the style of music he writes and plays.
Apart from “Up in Smoke” which is a nice bluesy rock & roll song, I couldn’t pick another song from the other ones, although I tried hard. “Last one to Die” is addressed to a specific audience and if somebody is not familiar with this genre, probably will not be particularly moved to listen to it. It’s not an album that will make you feel happy, but a collection of tracks that most of us would choose to listen with a glass of our favorite drink, sitting in twilight and having in our minds the things that concerns us.