Tweet

Album Details

• Artist: Simple Kid
• Album: 1
• Label: Vector
• Year of Release: 2004
• ME Rating:
• Reviewed by: dscanland on 2004-07-13

Just as this album came up for review, my laptop had a big time issue that took a couple days to fix. The result was that I listened to this album more than I would have if it was up normally. Upon first listen I didn't think much of Simple Kid but damn, if you are stuck with this album in your hard drive for a couple days, a fondness starts to grow. Songs like "Drugs" really do take a couple listens to understand where Irish-born Ciaran McFeely (Simple Kid) is coming from. That song it a little along Midnight Vultures-era Beck but there are many other influences at play here as well. Probably the two most obvious influences have to be Blur and Beta Band. The straight up pop-sensibilities of Blur are apparent in many songs and the experimentalism of Beta Band is also present. Simple Kid was a member of the Irish based group called The Young Offenders but the group more or less imploded and Simple Kid was left to his own devices. Relocating to San Francisco he came up with his new sound and 1 is the resulting album. It is an album that will appeal to eclectics and indie music fans with its diverse and experimental sounds. The album opens with the electro intense "Hello", greeting you to just one of Ciaran's sounds. Listen to the hypnotic "Love's An Enigma" and you will see where patience will pay off. "Supertramps and Superstars" sounds like a cross between T. Rex and the Beatles. 1 is a great debut and I think that Simple Kid may be as successful as Badly Drawn Boy.

User Reviews and Comments

Log In or Register to Rate Albums