The Random Nouns review

The Random Nouns are a bit duplicitous. You look at their Myspace page and there are such large dollops of casual humour and self deprication in their jottings that could be lulled into a false sense of light-hearted security. The Random Nouns music is very much, hot on the heels of the darker, mournful and more melancholy indie artists such as Richard Hawley, Nick Cave or Tom Waites. The songs are, on the one hand light and ethereal but also dark and moody in equal measure. Most songs are minimal but adequately supported by backing, usually strings and strummed guitar, to give a haunting open-space, minimalist feel. The vocals sit somewhere between the aforementioned Mr Hawley and Mr Morrisey in style and despite their best efforts (a horrible fret buzz on 'Sad but true' a few vocal flattening issues in some songs) TRN pull it off with some beguiling and hypnotic qualities which, for the life of me insists on making me listen to all the tracks all the way through.


So if you like the feel that melancholy, delicate and haunting tracks bring, The Random Nouns are your band. Of the future? Well currently if you've heard 'Valentine' by Richard Hawley, you've heard most of The Random Nouns' work (right down to the string accompaniment). But hey, there is plenty of room for more songs of that sort of quality. A bit of polishing on the finer details and a little less Hawley homage and you will have some mighty fine tunes coming through...
Review by Drumhead

RANK: **** 4 out of 6


www.myspace.com/garretbaker