CD Review  

Parry:Matthews
 "Album 1"

Rating 92%

reviewed by Ash Brown

 Well, the bio on the  Parry:Matthews website says "Imagine the blistering pop brilliance of early Bloop combined with the lyrical whimsy and heroic sentiment of Willo Wilson in his guise of St.Germain & The Small Widows and you're only beginning to get the picture."

That left me picture and clueless (my usual state) so I thought I'd better play the CD Charlie had given me.

First impressions are that Parry:Matthews come from the same stable as Portishead - not that Portishead came from a stable, otherwise they'd've been know as Horseshead - but they have proggier touches than them. Singer Anna Parry has a great voice and looks that I am jealous of, while Simon Matthews does a great deal of instrumentation, and well.

Opening track Do Ya Love Me? has been featured on one of our wonderful podcasts (and can also be found on the bands MySpace page, as well as Wrong Song and Let It Hurt) and does set the Bristol Electronia tone. Until the second track, Against The Wall, comes in with it's own Cranberries sound and the third, True Love, brings a bit of guitar rock to the ball.

Wrong Song goes back to a P-word melancholic groove, Let It Hurt and Women flow well, then In Deep takes the sound to a new place. A sort of Peter Gabriel experimentation place with rhythmic drums and a bit of chanting. Well, he lives down that way too, doesn't he...

The album finishes on a real high with Where The Music Used To Be.

So I reckon that this is a fine debut from the Bath / Bristol pair (... must ... resist ... all ... puns ... ).

And the best thing about it? Well, if you go to their webpage, www.parrymatthews.ukstars.com, you can download the mp3's for mpfree! Though if you do, you should make a donation, cos they do have to eat. Either that, or spend a fiver and get the proper bone-fide CD version.

And while you're on there, check out the demo's for their second album, a couple of which Charlie has also played on his Podcasts. Hopefully he's made a donation to the cause.