Album Review by Mark Bayross
Leeds’ Whole Sky Monitor showed considerable promise on their WE GROW UP EP, and now it’s time to see if they can translate this onto a full-length. Needless to say, JUST LET ME TALK TO HER falls short of brilliance, but this is a decent album nonetheless. The guitars are serrated rather than crushing or subtle rather than blissful, while the limitations of John Parkes‘ voice don‘t help the cause.
Opener UNREQUITED comes out of the traps at pace, but things grind to a halt quickly with BASIC ROCK SONG – as plodding as its title suggests – and the lolloping BE BEAUTIFUL hitting something of a brick wall momentum-wise. Things improve considerably with the explosive BELIEVE and the spiky, Larkin-quoting WE GROW UP, songs that add a sense of drama and dynamism that was lacking before.
A solid effort but very much a debut album in that the band still has some way to go before fleshing out its sound and adding some variety. After a promising start, it is a shame the album doesn’t really get going again until the mid-way point. There’s talent here, though, so keep an eye out.
