Bright Midnight - Hand Me Down

Hear The Track Here

Hopefully this will be the first Bright Midnight track I've reviewed where I don't waste endless space comparing BM's vocalist to Jim Morrison of the Doors. You would think that, some thirteen or so tracks down, the novelty would have worn off but I guess when the resemblance is this stark it's impossible to ignore. So, first and last, the singer of Bright Midnight, sounds a lot like the Lizard King. However, he is alive and Jimbo isn't but listening you would swear he was, and undoubtedly singing in Texas's very own Bright Midnight. Elvis has nothing on this boy. (Ed: despite all your protestations, you still managed to mention it twice AND take up a whole paragraph doing it Gilmore, have you NO shame??). Musically, though, only the first couple of tracks had any noticeable Doors feel, in fact they have rampaged through a fair slice of rock in various forms, and usually worth listening too.

I actually prefer the band when they tackle stuff like Liberation (January 2010), a New Order-ish sounding thing that pressed all the right groove centres, but I am more than a bit partial to their rock side too. While I often rag on the band for their often lo-fi, sloppy approach there are instances where it works, and Hand Me Down fits in that category. Mind you, having said that, it took me a while to really get to like this track. Too many instances where, for example, the track just didn't gel as it should. Everything is right, but it just doesn't ignite the way you feel it should. Musically, this is definitely some weird kind of Alternative so I guess there will be enough interest in it because of that alone.

Nonetheless, give this track time and it will work some magic on you, because there is no doubt in my mind that Bright Midnight (jointly or severally) come up with some very, very decent songs and - despite all its oddities - Hand Me Down is a very good song. Now that I have had time to really assimilate the track, its fairly obvious that the most confident person on here is the vocalist, everything else has its moments; a fluff here, late there etc. More a demo than a finished track in my books, but still worth listening to for all that - especially if you happen to have already caught some of this band's previous output and, like me, have become a fan. Finally, and mentioning no names, this is also one of the most modern sounding tracks I have heard from this outfit.

Recommended garage Alternative.