Reviews

Imagine a world where musical development stopped in 1966. It would be a strange place. There would have been no Punk or Funk, Disco or Techno, Hip Hop or Trip Hop.

This may have been no bad thing. The Beatles were known to have produced at least a couple of good tunes - as did the Kinks and Beach Boys.

Let's Do The Time Warp Again

Enter The Offbeat. The band's music could well have been dug up in a forty year old time capsule.

But for a couple of 80's synth sounds in 'Can't Leave Too Soon', the sound comes straight from the mid-sixties.

The eight tracks currently available on the band's website explore the well-trodden paths of love and the lovelorn.

They are full of the usual professions of undying love ("I'm giving it up for you" is the first line of 'Blue Sky') and unrequited yearnings ("I'm feeling kind of tense/with you it all makes sense" runs a line from 'Wasted').

Something Old

They are themes familiar not just because almost everyone in the world will have experienced them first hand, but also because the ideas have been conveyed in song from the beginning of time.

Sometimes it is not just the theme, but the words themselves that seem a little too familiar.

"I'm so in love with you it's true/I just don't know what to do"  from 'Wasted' must have been used in one permutation or another in a million and one love songs. 

Sounds of the Sixties

The problem lies in the fact that it is not only the musical style of The Offbeat that comes straight out of the sixties. It is the attitude as well.

The Beatles, The Beach Boys and The Kinks all left behind the twee themes of "she loves me she loves me not" because they found meatier themes to tackle in the form of betrayal, self loathing and loss.

A greying over of issues that were once black and white provided bands with a much thicker source of subject matter. That is not to say that all songs have to be bleak and depressing.

The Beatles were still able to produce 'Come Together' and the Beach Boys' 'Good Vibrations' remains one of the greatest feel good songs of all time.

But these songs were delivered against a backdrop of emotional depth that gave the bands a third dimension they had once been lacking.

The Upbeat Offbeat

Ignoring the occasionally clichéd lyrics, there is very little wrong with each individual song that The Offbeat offer.

They are upbeat songs that will get your toe tapping and raise the occasional smile.

There are gorgeous vocal harmonies that recall the best of Lennon/McCartney/Harrison vocals (think "You're Going to Lose That Girl" from 'Help') while the harmonies on 'Keep it Real' are pure Beach Boys.  

Mr Blue Sky

However, when taken as a whole, the songs reveal a lack of depth that would warrant many return visits.

For all the talk of blue skies in songs like 'Blue Sky' and 'Welcome to my World', the songs could do with a bit of variation in the weather.

A line from 'Keep it Real' speaks of "like looking for clouds on a sunny day". I couldn't have put it better myself.

There is enough in The Offbeat's output to show that this band are a bunch of highly talented musicians with an ear for a good tune and a big, big passion for the music they perform.

With such skills and ambitions, there is potential to impress even the most jaded of cynical music reviewers. We're just not quite there yet…

Here's to The Offbeat's next outing!

This article is an external contribution and expresses a personal opinion, not necessarily the views of the BBC.

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If you're involved in the Gloucestershire music scene and you would like Stephen to review your music, please feel free to get in touch. Either email gloucestershire@bbc.co.uk or send your album and a bit about yourself to:

BBC Gloucestershire Introducing...
c/o Chris Sandys
London Road
Gloucester
GL1 1SW

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