Little Barrie - StandYour Ground

Wed 24th Jan, 2007 in Music Reviews

The album is called Stand Your Ground and that is exactly what Little Barrie are doing with their second release, albeit with a few interesting yet predictable twists. This in itself is commendable, considering the instability of the line-up (they have gone through one drummer already since We are Little Barrie and have now settled on Billy Skinner). The album was produced by Dan the Automater (Gorillaz) and Mike Pelanconi (Lilly Allen) and is an easygoing follow up to the London trio’s first slice of 60s funk tinged blues-rock.

First track, Bailing Out opens in typical Little Barrie fashion, some funky work on the guitar and laid-back vocals but happily an edgier drum sound delivered by Skinner. The song builds, hinting at something a bit rockier but all in all does little more than raising a smile before the next track begins. Love You introduces more of a rockabilly mood in the album and guitarist and vocalist Barrie Cadogan takes the chance to show-off his chops with a few flashy licks in between verses. The next few songs are the lowest ebb of the album, with unremarkable bluesy ballads like Yeah We Know and the lamentable lyrics in Green Eyed Fool - “I never meant to be a big fish in a small pond… yeah”.

Pretty Pictures steers the album back on track with some tremolo guitar noises and Lewis Wharton’s walking bass lines before racing to a finish. The melancholic harmonica in Cash In contrasts nicely with the brighter tones of Cadogan’s vocals, but it is left up to his guitar work to carry the track from start to finish. Just Wanna Play is a more memorable track on the album, building nicely with funky verses to the chorus where Cadogan laments, “Baby don’t you just wanna play?” He suggests the song is about some friends of his who were burned by a record company but surely this lyric could be read to address all of us. The Hendrix/SRV inspired Why Don’t You Do It is Cadogan’s best chance to prove his worth as a guitarist and he delivers some well textured yet familiar tones, but still this tune is more than worth a listen.

While Stand Your Ground does not reach any great heights, Little Barrie have managed to add a few new tricks to their swagger and have come up with an album that is immediately nice to listen to. Whether or not it is one that listeners will remember after six months is a different proposition altogether.