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GET your thinking caps on, you need a good memory
for this.
When was the last time you heard a really beautiful
melody? How about the last time you heard a really poignant,
incisive song lyric? Not sure?
Well these days a few respected individuals hold the
Good Songwriter and Capable Musician titles, but the
good news is, there is now an actual BAND which manages
to combine the two, and it’s not Teenage Fanclub or
Belle and Sebastien or any of the other usual suspects.
The Stands played their first gig at Liverpool’s
cult Bandwagon Club in Christmas 2001, playground of
the poor and not-so-famous Scallies now affectionately
known as megastars the Coral, Bandits, Zutons et al.
After solo acoustic gigs performing ancient blues and
folk songs, resident singer/songwriter extraordinaire
Howie Payne said he wanted to “write songs from the
heart.”
No one listening to their set at Northampton’s Soundhaus
could deny they’re true to his word; and no-one can
indulge in any bleary-eyed dream images of little Howie
formulating his oh-so-Liverpudlian folk sound in a tiled
backyard this side of the Mersey. He grew up in New
York with dope-smoking Hell’s Angels, and despite the
twee nature of the Stands’ effortless three-part harmonies,
tightly wound sixties-pop-skiffle-style rhythm and bass
and Dylan-esque addition of Howie on mouth organ, there’s
a melancholy element which saves them from doe-eyed
languor.
Their stripped-down work ethic, far from scrimping on
quality, creates the perfect platform for honest, simple
love songs. And although reviewers have already immortalised
them in black and white alongside The Byrds, Lennon
and Dylan, the nature of what they (excuse the pun)
stand for renders such comparisons unnecessary.
Howie Payne can climb atop the benchmark knowing his
brilliantly crafted melodies and carefully executed
lyrics stand on their own. And for that reason, I don’t
think the hype will make them falter.
Relevant sites:
www.the-stands.com
www.thesoundhaus.com
Natasha House for Crud Magazine 2003©
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