The Crowd Scene - Turn Left at Greenland - 1998

The Crowd Scene are one of the brighter examples of British pop today, and their debut album, Turn Left at Greenland, shows off all sides of this diverse band. The band is primarily comprised of Anne Rogers (bass guitar, keyboards, vocals) and Grahame Davies (guitar, keyboards, vocals), and along with a few selected musicians, they have delivered an excellent album that concentrates on well-crafted songwriting and excellent production. There are folksy and baroque touches to the album, and many of the songs are propelled by Davies' excellent rhythm guitar playing. Rogers' voice is reminiscent of Chrissie Hynde, while Davies is a vocal cross between Alex Chilton and Michael Brown (Left Banke), if that's possible. The songwriting is uniformly excellent, from the Squeeze-esque album opener, "Weather Song," and the breezy "Surprise" (which has a positively delicious vocal from Rogers) to the rocking "Backtracking." "Walking 'Round the World's Fair" has a great jazz-swing groove that is one of the high points of the record. Absolutely worthwhile, and a good sign for the future of British pop. -AMG



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