God Left Town
EP.
And while that fraternal moniker might suggest something collective and rustic, some of the best moments here are the loneliest, when frontman-guitarist and producer Andrew Thorne is left to his own spartan devices - as on the artfully reverbed
Stay
or
Lost on the Motorway
.
On most of this, Thorne's sweetly Lennon/Harrisonesque voice and guitar leads his band through a mix of country-rock janglers (the title track), harmony-heavy 60s-echoing baroque folk-rock (
Up For Air, Tread Carefully
), with the occasional heavier urge (
Always Said I'd Do
).
Sometimes this skirts familiar territory -
Weight Around My Heart
feels like Paul Kelly finding a good use for R.E.M.'s old mandolin. But it's an album that's much more than the sum of its influences.These pretend-siblings sure aren't faking it when it comes to high-finesse guitar-pop songcraft.
Russell Baillie