The big deal about The Slow Show is that they supported Elbow and impressed a lot of people. If I was playing devil’s advocate, I might suggest that most bands would seem exciting, and therefore impressive, in contrast to Guy Garvey’s dreary bunch, but that’s perhaps beside the point. The question is, how do The Slow Show stand up to the scrutiny on this new EP?
With the amps turned down to two, they focus on downbeat, downtempo minimalism to create gloomy scenes riven with world-weariness. It’s an approach that’s well suited to the gentle country-tinged croon of ‘God only Knows’, although Rob Goodwin’s vocal delivery’s more like Neil Diamond on a downer than any of the band’s preferred reference points, namely Tom Waits, Bob Dylan.
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The four tracks are somewhat much of a muchness, though, and The Slow Show (who’ve taken their inspiration from a song by The National) live up to their name as they crawl around the same brooding territory for the EP’s duration. There’s an absence of much-needed tension and drama to really bring the songs to life, and while the sepiatone brass on ‘Goodbye Rose’ is a nice touch, the overall effect is the musical equivalent of a wet afternoon in October.
The Slow Show Online
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