How’s it going then, that bittersweet thing? More bitter than sweet? Well, at the moment, yeah. Time was that a band stuck with the meaningless “Indie” tag were supposed to sing about house parties at Boothy’s and other landfilling tokens of adolescence – those days are gone now, probably forever, so sitting on anyone’s fences doesn’t interest anybody.
When Keyside’s Dani-Lee Parker and Ben Cassidy first met at a Liverpudlian house party in 2018 they realised they’d both brought guitars and the resulting jam lasted into the early hours as they bonded over a mutual love of Scouse legends Cast and The La‘s. After reuniting two years later the band we see now quickly took shape, releasing a string of singles and EP’s before landing on the city’s uber-cool Modern Sky label.
Keyside is, as many debut albums are, a gathering of the old and new which underlines their promise. As a writer Parker is unafraid of tackling the hard stuff, from addiction (Rock My Love) abusive relationships (Heaven) or losing those close to you (Echoes). What makes these gloomy themes easier to have empathy for though is they’re often presented in attractive, hook laden packages, with guitar lines recalling Johnny Marr’s most upbeat work in The Smiths (Opener Runaway) and also the bluesy grit of Lee Mavers (Red Ruby Red). How’s the bittersweet thing going? Well, fine thanks. Two sugars please – and stick this record back on again, will ya?
You can read a full review here.
The Voice Of Unreason 