Matt Purcell and TheBlessed Curse - MattPurcell and The BlessedCurse

Thu 1st Jul, 2010 in Music Reviews

If you’re looking for a challenging, deep and meaningful listen, this is definitely not for you. It’s the kind of thing you would pop on in the background at a party or a quiet evening with friends, it’s just kind of there.

The merry men that make up the Matt Purcell & The Blessed Curse are ex-Glide, Peabody, Starky and Jades members – Marc Lynch (bass), Graham Trewin (drums), Ben Kingshott (guitar) and of course Matt Purcell (guitar/vocals), previously from Sydney band Mahogany Blaze.

This self-titled release is bordering on sounding 90s-esque, not that there’s anything wrong with that. The band quote influences such as biggies Bob Dylan and The Beatles and according to their Unearthed page, they believe they sound like The Shins and Teenage Fanclub. Though they’re closer to the classic Aussie indie rock of bands like Big Heavy Stuff than any of the influences they mention.

Matt recorded the whole album himself in three different studio spaces, going on to mix with the mix-master Wayne Connolly (Josh Pyke, You Am I). The result? An amazing, clean, pro-sounding mix, but overall the album sounds a bit same-same. It’s easy to like the tone in Matt’s voice, although he never quite sounds completely passionate about the songs and seems to be trying a little too hard to sound something other than Australian.

Some of the sentiments in the songs are really nice, for example in I Ain’t The One, solid, aching guitars perfectly compliment lyrics: “Never should’ve called without a reason, now it’s lost or you just left it behind…I ain’t the only person who has waved goodbye to you”.

Single-sounding tracks and stand-out songs seem to be missing from this LP though. The third track Here We Go is a catchy little number, but is a little on the long side, while Days also impresses with Powderfinger-ish riffs and chilled vocals.

Give Matt Purcell and The Blessed Curse’s LP a chance, just don’t expect fireworks from this outfit just yet.