I think it was Tony Wilson who stated during the heyday of Factory and Madchester that the reason why Manchester had the musical edge over Liverpool at that time was because Manchester bands had the better record collections. Not wishing to show favouritism - and by way of appeasement, I’ll wager that Shack’s record collection must be as cool as a cucumber - I’ll leave that opinion hanging in the air for you all to argue the toss amongst yourselves.
The Motorpool have obviously been buying and listening to the right records and it shows on their debut album. ‘X-Ray Eyes’ is a grown-up and old fashioned album in all the right senses of the word. It’s not that they sound like any one great guitar band or rock artist it’s just that they display the kind of confidence that comes from having immersed themselves in the music of their heroes and then diffused its essence to begin crafting songs in their own style. Opening track ‘Neon Smile’ sounds like it should be kicking off a 3rd or 4th album let alone a debut, so assured is its structure and delivery. And most importantly for any band who want to be more that just another rock/pop band, it swaggers. Never underestimate the need for the roll to move with the rock and a band that can swagger (e.g. The Roses swaggered whereas The Farm just lumped and larded – just to re-open that geographical/temporal debate) always gets my vote.
Billy Traxler’s deep and quivering vocals recall Bowie, Bono and Edwyn Collins but also possess the more direct drama of Ian McNabb. In other words he can produce both the intimacy of a cracked croon and the soaring power of a towering cri de coeur There’s also a touch of McNabb/The Icicle Works in the music of this five piece (two guitar, bass, keyboard and drum), the songs evidently built from acoustic foundations as the near solo track ‘This Is What I Live For’ and the opening bars of ‘Shutdown’ and the epic ‘Shifting Sands’ demonstrate more readily.
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There are some cracking rock/pop tunes in here to maintain the high standard set by ‘Neon Smile’. The title track (with a verse strongly reminiscent of ‘The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine Anymore’), ‘Winter Suntan’ and ‘Bad Chicken’ - bad title notwithstanding – would be chart-bound singles if there was any justice. And if the album runs out of steam before the close – ‘Collision Course’ and ‘A Cut Above The Rest’ just sitting too near the average-mark for comfort - it’s not enough to spoil the banquet laid out before.
With ‘X-Ray Eyes’ The Motorpool have written and played a solid and melodic rock debut. Their sound and song-writing hint at greatness and their first album offers more than enough evidence to suggest that they could fashion something special in the future to sit in any discerning music fan’s record collection, irrespective of their hometown.
www.themotorpool.co.uk
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