Envy - Lilac Daze

Hear The Track Here

I first reviewed this young MP3 Unsigned rock band last month with their track Everything (September 2006) and, being yer ultimate rock animal found it quite pleasant but not something that blew me ears off. S'ok, it doesn't happen every time and that's only to be expected, however there was certainly enough there for me to want to have a further listen. The band (Davii Adams, James Somerville, Marcus Seale and David Drynan all hail from Sarf East London (that's south for those who don't speak the lingo) with a marked hatred for the state of the UK music scene and in that I can only join them. Thank God (and Stew) for good old fashioned do-it-yerself UK music sites. For my money, they are the best A&R departments around and it's a sign of ennui in the music business that they haven't been extensively mined for talent.

Speaking of which, lets get on with it.

The admittedly small flaws that marred Everything, do not seem to affect Lilac Daze which is a slice of psychedelic rock par excellence. One of the flaws that stood out in the first track I reviewed, the vocals (which I thought tried to hard) are done to almost perfection on this track, although I personally would have liked them a whole lot more present in the track than they were. There is also a marked wooliness in this mix that will not help the track to really register especially with the more casual browser, but given time this track would definitely win you over. More so if you liked a bit of rock with that roll.

One of the chief reasons that Lilac Daze scores with me is because it does recreate a tremendously fertile musical time when rock had teeth and claws and wasn't afraid to show them. There is a most definite American sound and feel to the track although the mix doesn't help in trying to work out what's going on where. It's only now, after a great many plays, that I know that the one thing that is happening here to my liking is a terrific song, lovingly performed and one that - given a better setting - may well have scored much higher with me. Nonetheless, the same production details affect this track to the band's detriment, and that has to be put right. Here's my twopence: more emphasis on tightening up the structure, and ya gotta work on the sound - big time. See, it's ultimately about clarity because to me clarity equals power and that is an essential element of all true rock music.

Interesting classic rock but well worth a listen. Recommended, despite...