Features

There are some band names you come across that don't make much sense.

The For Carnation is one. There's also The Hold Steady and System Of A Down. Maybe it's just me.

But it seems to be more of a sentence than a name. And it is a sentence that provokes questions.

Who are you? Why does the game need you, of all people? And what game are we playing anyway?

Whatever happened to sensible band names like Gorky's Zygotic Mynci, Maher Shalal Hash Baz and……Gerry and the Pacemakers.

All of the above makes sense when you discover that the band have named themselves after a song by one of their musical influences: the equally weird sounding Minus The Bear, who are, in turn, named after an obscure 80s kid's show in America (if Wikipedia is to be believed).

If I ever have band, remind me to call it "By The Great Galaxy!"

Compare and Contrast

Anyway, back to the review. The Game Needed Me are a Cheltenham-based band. Their songs boast high production values and catchy melodies.

The band compare themselves not just to Minus the Bear, but also Johnny Foreigner and The Arcade Fire.

You could also add to the list Kings of Leon. In particular, the last track on their EP (the imaginatively titled 'The Game Needed Me EP') sounds, at times, like a Kings of Leon track with Brian Molko on duetting duties.

The Fear

The Game Needed Me sing songs about fear: war and bullets and death feature prominently, as well they might, but there's also the a fear of smaller, more every day things: the fear of leaving a place of comfort ('Nothing True') and of a life beyond the television.

Second track 'Squares' contains the fantastic line: "Don't let the TV convince you you're thinking". If ever they brought back 'Why Don't You' to our small screens, this would have to be the revamped theme tune.

Elsewhere the lyrics are a little less approachable - a little more dense and obtuse.

'The Tooth Diaries' is less a song than it is a collection of seemingly random statements: "This isn't busy, the streets caving in/but I'll be your ending if you're calling for war". Maybe I just missed something.

Slow Burners and Fast Movers

But for these lyrical deviations from standard English, The Game Needed me produce some fantastic songs.

'Nothing True' is a lingering, slow burner of a track - soothing and comforting, melodic and beautiful.

There are Elbow-ish whispers in the background and a lilting piano through the song which adds to its delicate splendour.

The calmness of this track is a far cry from the urgency of 'Squares', but the message remains the same: let's escape from the comfort zone to a better place.

Why don't we just switch off our television sets and go and do something less boring instead?

Imagine, if you will, Futureheads style harmonised shouting over a guitar part itching to break into Fleetwood Mac's 'The Chain'. That kind of covers it.

The Band Needs You

All told, The Game Needed Me are a versatile band with an ear for not just a good tune, but a great one.

It would a pity for their name dropping association with one of their favourite bands to weigh too heavily on them.

The key to creativity must be a freedom to break away from what has been done before and to try to do something new.

It would be a very foolish band indeed who went and named themselves Octopus' Garden, Roll With It or London Calling. 

The Game Needed Me might well have the inventiveness to leave behind these comforts (as they would put it).

In a year already brimming with promise, this band must be considered a highlight of 2009 and deserve to be heard by as many people as possible.

Starting, of course, with you.

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...
London Road
Gloucester
GL1 1SW

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