The Empires - You Won't Make a Fool of Me

Hear The Track Here

Judging by the usual signs, Australia's The Empires are new to Soundclick, either that or they don't have a whole lot in the way of repertoire. There are just two tracks on their Soundclick webpage and very little information whatsoever about who they are. Billed as Alternative, they sound (from the blurb anyway) like a band but - as you know - you can never be too sure about that. Doesn't of course matter if they are a band or not but some people are just plain nosy - just like me. the reason I mention it in the first place is because there is some inconsistency in the use of 'I' and 'we'...

Bet, you didn't know I'd be reviewing your grasp of the language either eh? ;)

If I was going by the track alone I would definitely say this is a one man band, and as it happens a pretty decent songwriter into the bargain. Musically, its just guitar and vocals but when I went to get to more info about it it became obvious that this was a demo. Moreover a folk rock demo, even if its a particularly good one; clean, unfussy mix, understated but very effective strumming and that's yer lot. Believe me though, when it comes to material as basic as this I am a bit of an expert and aside from some vocal flaws, I've heard much, much, much worse.

What does stand out, and immediately at that, is just how good a song this is. Mind you, I've been here a few times too. You have a great song and, somewhere between scoring it for other musicians, recording and mixing it, you lose the essence of what you started with. Therefore my only advice to The Empires concerning any future work on this track is to follow the golden rule: keep it simple. The reason it works right now is because of its simplicity which allows the song to breathe and, in the process, tug at your ears. Certainly a good introduction to this artist, but I'd want a bit more meat on the bones before I'd commit to anything with any certainty.

Recommended acoustic song.