Stand Your Ground

ヴィンテージ楽器を取り入れ、楽曲の力強さとグルーヴ感を際立たせたサウンドで話題となったデビュー・アルバム『We Are Little Barrie』から早1年半、無名の新人からUKの最有力バンドへと変貌を遂げたロックンロール・3ピース、リトル・バーリーのセカンド・アルバムが早くも発売！前作リリース後にドラマーのウェイン・フルトンが脱退、新ドラマーにビリー・スキナーが加入。また本作ではプロデューサーにゴリラズ等でおなじみのダン・ジ・オートメイターを起用、さらにゲストとしてブルース・エクスプロージョンのラッセル・シミンズ、プライマル・スクリームのマーティン・ダフィーも参加。前作以上にガレージ的要素を増したタイトでパワフルなサウンドが突っ走り、まさに新生リトル・バーリーの名に相応しい、“本物の”ロックンロール・サウンドが詰まりまくった傑作アルバム！

Little Barrie's Stand Your Ground falls into the trap so many sophomore albums do: sounding exactly the same as the first album. It falls short of We Are Little Barrie in every category -- songwriting, production, performance -- and ends up as a mild to complete disappointment. Most of the blame has to go to the production teams. Seven of the record's ten tracks were produced by Dan the Automator and he goes in for an ultra-clean, separated sound that drains all the excitement and color out of the songs. The remaining three songs were produced by Mike Pelanconi and the band, and sound just as lifeless and scrubbed clean of grit. Edwyn Collins' work on "We Are" was genius in comparison, giving the songs all sorts of extra sonic excitement and bringing in percussion and keyboards to widen the trio's scope. Thanks to his work quite a few songs sounded liable to jump out of the speakers; here the songs just lie flat. It doesn't help much that Barrie Cadogan's lyrics dip into cliches and too many of the songs sound like half-formed jams. His guitar playing, which was one of the highlights of the debut, isn't as fresh sounding here, either. No doubt this is due to already being familiar with his style, but it also feels like he's missing the spark that made his playing of "We Are" so hot and nasty. They also miss departed drummer Wayne Fullwood. Neither ringer Russell Simins nor new drummer Billy Skinner has the same swing and punch he did. Despite the general disappointments of Stand Your Ground, there are a few songs that stand out: the fairly rollicking "Green Eyed Soul," the low-key and soulful ballad "Yeah We Know You," and the lengthy album closer "Pay to Join," which has Cadogan finally attacking his guitar with some fire. ~ Tim Sendra

ここまで60'sロックを具現化できるバンドも珍しい。しかも単なる懐古主義にはならず、あの時代から半世紀近く経ったいまだからこそ注入されるスパイスとソリッドさが心地良く響いてくる。ドラマーの脱退劇によってグルーヴ感消失か?と心配したけど、ラッセル・シミンズの強力なサポートも受けつつ、新メンバーによるヴィンテージ感溢れるドラミングを聴いて安心。2枚目にしてヴェテランの風格すら漂う充実作だ。
bounce (C)柴田 かずえ