Title:
Sweet Idol
Artist(s):
Birth
El-Camel's Ratings:
Label:
Hut
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Reviewer:
michael white
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Birth are constructed around the talents of one man - Dawm Lanten. In addition to the unusual name, he likes to keep his band relationships equally singular. It's fluidity that consummates his oeuvre. The hired hands come and go while he remains the undisputed head honcho. Ego gone mad, or a control driven perfectionist? Sweet Idol is inconclusive. This debut single reveals someone in thrall to the laid-back pop harmonics of the early '70s - albeit with a crisply defined contemporary edge.
The gentle acoustic frisson of Sweet Idol is perfect Sunday afternoon mood music for the post-Saturday come down. If it's summer and the sun is shining, so much the better. Close your eyes - and after an intro that is momentarily reminiscent of the Style Council's Long Hot Summer - sound induced images of platform boots, feathercuts, cheesecloth shirts, and wide lapels flicker across the subconscious. Whether Dawm's wardrobe reflects this remains literally to be seen, but one thing's for sure - he's got Wings: of the Paul McCartney variety that is. From the tangential chorus - with its over-layered harmonies - the characteristic abrasion which signposts the very peak of any of his vocal phrases, all underpinned by the skidding preamble that leads to the strung-out circularity of a whining guitar: it's Band On The Run for the '90s.
That this is teamed with a cover of the all time stoned-out summer classic that is the Young Rascals' Groovin' is no coincidence. The old and the new: both aiming for the same carefree constituency of relaxed emotion - with feelings aspiring to a sun-kissed, hypnotic state of wide-eyed sonambulance.
Aspiration is the key word here: imitation an act of insincerity. Whether the debut album rostered for release in the new year is an equally over-the-shoulder affair, or truly attempts to come to terms with the new century should be filed temporarily under growing pains. For the moment this is one easy Birth - and father and baby are doing well.
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Sweet Idol
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