Review of The Hair's CD "Untitled"

The Hair: Untitled

The Hair are foot soldiers in the great army of rock and roll. They play bluesy soulful rock, with some keyboard frills. They are destined to dream of finding the audience that share their passion for standard formats and honest delivery.

Let's not forget that playing rock and roll is not difficult. It's good to have a strong-voiced singer who stays in tune, and Sam Robson does that with style. But well-practised funky four four on standard chords is not a great achievement any more. It just sounds dull. It's a dried-up format, and only the Gods and the totally wired can squeeze any more out of its weary body. As the demo takes up my roomspace I look wistfully at the hundreds of original and special things that I could be listening to instead. Look, there's Border Crossing's album. There's an old Colourblind James Experience vinyl that I just got given. There's Chicken Legs Weaver, there's John Lee Hooker. There's Bonnie "Prince" Billy's Greatest Palace Music album.

It's not The Hair's fault. There's nothing wrong with their stuff at all. It's just that this is 2004 and we have ladlefuls of musical riches that makes 20 minutes of pie and mash look very dull. To make any kind of impact at all you've got to have something that at least some people are hungry to hear. I just can't think of anybody who I could tell confidently "You must go and see the Hair, their CD is special". I can honestly say that they play well and than Sam Robson's a good singer. I would recommend any local promoter to have them open up on the right kind of MOR rock night. Beyond that, I can't see any future for this kind of self-penned ordinariness. It's not meant as a dig at all, but on the evidence of this CD The Hair would make a much bettter covers band. The extra zing that comes from great songs would make their musical talent worthwhile.

• www.hairmusic.co.uk

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