Monolith Cocktail Blog

REVIEWS 
Words: Brian Bordello

Beef Gordon  ‘ABC’
Out Now

The first single taken from Beef Gordon’s upcoming debut LP is a whimsical ditty about the joys of S&M. Sounding not unlike a young Jarvis Cocker performing a song for children’s television, you can imagine Brian Cant doing a lovely off kilter little dance whilst being whipped by Floella Benjamin, whilst Big Ted and Humpty dry hump Jemima, and little Ted looks on in voyeuristic delight through the square window. There really is not enough sex in music these days.

This is a lovely Casio inspired pop romp which makes me look forward to hearing what delights Gordon will conjure up with his long player [ooh err missus!!].

Colossus ‘Ynys Môn’
(CEG Records) Out Now

The sun is out, it’s nearly summer, so what do we need? We need this! A wonderful romp of a summer pop song, the kind of song you used to hear blasting out of your transistor radio in those halcyon days of the radio 1 roadshow, the days when the DJs spoke nonsense but it meant so much more.

The 80s was a great decade for mainstream pop and Colossus has tapped into the whole era’s feel bringing the fun element back into pop: And this is pop; pop is not a dirty word, pop is something that when done well can remove the drudgery of your life for the length of the magical song. So lie back close your eyes and soak up the sunshine that emits from ‘Ynys Môn’.

Graham Domain  ‘Love And Sadness EP’
(Metal Postcard Records)  20^th May 2019

So here we have the latest release from the wonderful singer songwriter from Manchester, Graham Domain. You may remember, or not, that I reviewed his full length LP earlier in the year, Cold Moon Harmonics. This new release is a six-track mini LP. Mini in size but not in quality, this carries on were Cold Moon Harmonics left off: beautifully written songs of heartache and betrayal the sadness that can be found in existence.

There is something strangely magical about the weirdness of the musical world Graham Domain lives; a throwback to the days of the 80s when Japan and Black skirted around the regions of the hit parade; a soothing charade of yesterdays bedsit clothes and art school glamour songs to lose yourself in; to bathe in the afterglow of a pure sadness; an LP to soundtrack falling in and out of love to and an LP to fall in love with.

Gisli  ‘The Skeleton Crew’
24^th May 2019

I really like this LP. A fine pop LP in fact; any album that starts with the fizz pop explosion of the Super Furry Animals eating a sherbet dip, like they do on the opener ‘Tidal’, and then goes on to sing of love and romance and its many highs and lows in such a fun filled manner but with the wonderful undercurrent of darkness gets my vote.

At times reminding me of that other fine lyricist E from the Eels with a such a marvelous turn of phrase as “I would not say it is giving up, just a sweet surrender”, from the beautiful ‘Sweet Surrender’. It is rare that you hear such fine offbeat lyrics attached to beautiful melodies. It is becoming something of a dying art. Remember, natural strangeness is a virtue, not put on strangeness, as nobody likes a try hard or a fake but this has a natural pop charm with an eccentric tilt. And anybody who can combine handclaps and fuzz guitar as beautifully as Gisli does on track two, ‘Broken Arm’, should be cherished and treasured as this is a great LP filled with many pop gems.