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 Kid Harpoon- Once
4/10

Tom Hull aka Kid Harpoon has been bounding around London since 2006, but due to certain creative delays he is only now releasing his debut album. Disappointed with his songs and feeling lost within his musical space, he paid a visit to Trevor Horn (The Buggles, Yes) to get some inspirational guidance. Horn advised Hull to discard his songs and start again with him at his side. The pair then flew to Los Angeles to re-record the songs with a whole new cast of musicians personally recommended by Horn. The result is a jangly pop album of semi-soft, care-bear voices and Disney style instrumentation, contained in twelve emotively happy songs. Lyrically complex, Hull is a storyteller from the Donovan school of Barabajagal weirdness, tailoring his voice into different characters and sniffing out his subjects with a confused sense of curiosity. His theatrical antics burst to life on ninth track ‘Running Through Tunnels’, growling like Ian Anderson and attempting to change tempo with Aqualung acuteness. Except he becomes a bit tangled in his design, raging over-the-top and loosing a lot of cohesion between his voice and the vast array of instruments. ‘Death Of A Rose’ continues the theatrical performance, this time with piano as a backdrop and singing more like the pied piper than Anderson’s poor beggarman; it grates a little with its cheesiness. However, Once does have it’s glamorous moments. ‘Buried Alive’ is a gently strummed acoustic number with a simple vocal effect put on his voice to add a soft echo. It’s the only folk song on the album and it displays his song writing much better than the other songs.  ‘Flowers By The Shore’ is another more tolerable song, a kind-hearted pop song with pretty guitar picking and a catchy melody. Unfortunately the tired cheesy songs outweigh the more interesting moments. His storytelling and word play often don’t work well with his choice of instrumental riffs and the melodies fail to peak through the hot bed of theatrical vocals.
Nick

 

Posted by Nick Fulton under Album, Reviews
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